


'J- *\> 






-0' 



^^^ v^ 



v^^ -^c^. ^ 



H -7-^ 



:f 






'^/<^'^' 
.^'% 



'^^> ,^V^' 






: .#■ % 



.0 



8 1 A " i^V 



■':, ■<^ 



•^ .<^ 



'-o:' 



vO o. 






.\,;!C?i*.' 















l"X) <> 



,•0- 



-^.:::^'^ 



V 



^■^' 



^^ .^\^' 



>/<^^ 



?S^ * 



.S^ -^ 









.6^"" ^ 

\.:::,!^;<^ 



/, 



-^^ ^.v 



\^^' '"^A- 



; -^^ 



^^. V^ 






j> -':,, 



u ■<<■■ 



..^^ <*-. 



A^^ 



r.N^ 









^^ "^ 



oo' 



\^ 



',^ 






'i^. * 



%%'^- 



■^' ^ -'Mtb; ^ 









^/,;?s^ ^ i^v 



.0^ ^.^ •«. •<;3, 





^^^ .- 




>^^^■^ V:, 




rj^ 


' " ■• ^ " .A 


O ^/ 


#' 


c " ^ '' /, ^ '''b. 


"^^ v^' 


"-^ 0^ 




. o 






::y^ N^ ^ 



^^. .^v^' 

s^-^. 















'* *s' ^ 



^^ , N C 



' 1 o. 






,0 






/'o. 






<0^^' 



v^ 



> "^c^. ' k 



■v^ 



.^" ''■>. 



,0 C' 






oo^ 






^IIE DAYS OP UiUvnialE: 



or 
A, D. 1680-1308. 
Rev. L. P. Bcv;en, 






PKIIADZLPHIA. 

Prosbyteriaii Board oi Piildic;:it 
1885. 



THE 



Days of Maki-mie; 

OR, 

THE VINE PLANTED 

A. n. i6So^i;oS. 

WITH AN APPENDIX. 



_ HY IMF 
Rkv. L? p. UOWKN, I). D. 



" Fi>r my own part, 1 have c\trr observed in all the \\ ruiii|;> ol men l^itiraiiLe, 
liihrmilv an*! Iinperfertion, to mA^nifie the Fxccllency of the Scnpture-. above 
all t' v,.i , .>r i'- . ....^ - ..■ ■■ — Makkmik. 



rillLAl>KLPHIA : 

PRFSBYTERIAN BOAKD OF PlBIirATION, 

»3i4 CHESTNUT STREET 






COPYRIGHT, i88s, BY 

TMR TRVSTKES OP THI 

PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION. 
Ali K^ktt RetrrvtJ. 



WitsTctiTi ft Tmoms^-in. 



PREFACE. 



The name has lived, but has Francis Makemie been 
much more than a myth in the dim twilight of the 
past? With sure instinct the Church has always /^/^ 
that a debt of gratitude was owed by her to the Apos- 
tle of the Chesapeake, but how little she has known 
about him ! 

Dr. Miller's Memoir of yohn Rodgers, published in 
1 8 13, attracted some attention to our pioneer. He is 
spoken of as coming to America about the year 1700. 
The conflict between the Old and the New School 
parties, and the attempt to trace back their distinctive 
principles to the origin of the American Presbyterian 
Church and place them upon a historical basis, aroused 
a new interest in the founder of the Peninsula churches. 

Irving Spence, in his Letters on the Early History of 
the Presbyterian ChiircJi, published in 1838, embodying 
the results of his own investigations among the tra- 
ditions and court records of the lower Eastern Shore 
of Maryland, gave new impulse to inquiry and did 
more than any one before to clear away the thick 
mists. Dr. Hill and Dr. Hodc^e in their controversies 



PREFACE. 



widened the interest, resulting in the publication of the 
Consmutional History of the latter in 1839. Neither 
Dr. Hill's Sketches nor Dr. Hodge's History added 
materially to our knowledge of Makemie. Hill's mis- 
takes are glaring. A slight step forward was taken 
when Foote's Sketches were published, in 1850 con- 
tammg a very interesting account of our pioneer In 
1857 appeared Webster's History, giving the most sat- 
isfactory sketch of Makemie yet published, and add- 
ing more than any one since the days of Spence to 
our knowledge of our founder. His dates are valu- 
able, but sometimes erroneous. No original researches 
seem to have been attempted since Webster wrote 
later writers depending for material upon Webster 
and Spence. Makemie remains almost as much a 
myth as ever. 

The present writer has been engaged for seven years 
m direct personal investigations, critically questioning 
all that has been published before, taking nothing for 
granted, authenticating dates, plodding through records 
covered with the dust of two centuries, securing tran- 
scripts of all of Makemie's writings, studying his charac- 
ter from his own utterances, and sparing no pains, time 
nor expense in these patient -researches. Born upon 
that historic ground, familiar with the name of "Par 
son Makemie" from infancy, having for two years 
occupied the pulpit of some of the oldest churches 
founded by him, it has been the author's ambition to 
know all that could be known of the old worthy and 



/ 

PREFACE. 5 

to make him again a living, breathing, speaking per- 
sonaHty in ecclesiastical history. 

The result is the present work. Effort is made to 
give a picture of the times and scenes in which Ma- 
kemie was so prominent an actor. The thin thread of 
fiction introduced to keep up the flow of narrative will 
not obscure the historical facts which are definitely 
fixed in the notes. The setting of extracts from rec- 
ords and from the writings of Makemie and his con- 
temporaries, when of any length, in a smaller type than 
that used in the narrative, will aid the reader who de- 
sires especially to note them. The colonists of the 
Eastern Shore of Chesapeake Bay, among whom our 
pioneer lived and died, have never before had a his- 
torian. 

The writer has taken special pleasure, too, in res- 
cuing from utter oblivion a few names, the customs 
and a few specimens of the language of the Indians 
then inhabiting the Eastern Shore, and who, along 
with their dialect, have wholly disappeared from the 
earth. 

It must be distinctly noted that in the severe strict- 
ures upon the Quakers and the adherents of the 
Church of England, there is no purpose to reflect 
upon those churches of the present day. The picture 
is painted from the standpoint of a Presbyterian of that 
age denounced by the one and persecuted by the other ; 
as such, the picture is historical and reflects the spirit 
of Makemie's own writings. 



O PREFACE. 

The author does not care to press his claim that 
many of his most important discoveries, embraced in 
this volume, have been of late put in print by others 
without credit given to the discoverer. His great pur- 
pose has been to vindicate the fame of the pioneer. 
This has been a labor of love, and he rejoices in the 
wider honor accorded to Makemie during the last two 
years, whoever may have assisted in proclaiming the 
results of these researches. 

In Europe valuable assistance has been given the 
author by the Rev. Dr. Killen of Belfast, Prof With- 
erow of Londonderry and the Rev. Dr. Robert An- 
derson of Glasgow. 

It would be ungrateful not to mention, also, Mr. 
William H. Brown of Princess Anne, Maryland, who 
has rendered most efficient aid as an enthusiastic 
antiquarian. 

As the manuscript is passing from the writer's hands 
news comes of the death of the Rev. John C. Back- 
us, D. D., LL.D., of Baltimore, whose sympathy and 
encouragement have helped to inspire the long-con- 
tinued labor. That the completed book might have 
been read and approved by that great and good man 
was a reward pleasantly contemplated, now never to 
be enjoyed. But his words of good cheer will still 
seem to linger about its pages. 

Marshall, Missouri, 
November i, 1884. 



THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 



THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE, 



CHAPTER I. 
A. D. 1680. 

" A Country capable of superlative Improvement." — Makemie. 

AND yonder at last is Maryland ! The myste- 
^ rious New World, long dreamed of, is now 
dawning upon our view under the slanting beams of 
the rising May sun. Before we retired to sleep last 
night in our sea-cradle the captain promised a pleasant 
surprise to early risers, and just as the round orb of 
day is about to roll up out of the horizon of waters, 
we are hurried on deck to take our first look at the 
scene of many hazy hopes and untried possibilities. 
Here we sit upon the prow of the brigantine and 
drop into silence, gazing upon the moving shores 
and feeling as only flying exiles can feel. 

Slowly from the crest of breakers emerges the low 
coast. Long arrays of white hills chase one another to 
the north and the south like snowdrifts beyond the blue 
billows, but as we draw nearer and see the tumbling 
waves bursting into foam, their shining spray throws 
into dimmer shade the sunny sands. Beyond the 
hills we discover an interior sheet of placid waters 
lying in serene beauty between the beach and the 
main, expanding and contracting in graceful curves 



10 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1680. 

up and down the view. On the other side of this 
inner sound the eye is gladdened with the sight of 
green woodlands, their variegated hues contrasting 
pleasantly with the intervening sparkle of snow and 
silver, and by their repose of beauty resting the tired 
gaze from the incessant ocean-motion of days and 
weeks. 

So, I am told, one hundred and eighty-two years 
ago, the great voyager Sebastian Cabot passed south- 
ward along the coast from Newfoundland, looking upon 
these same hills and the lands over yonder, gazing 
through the inlets with curiosity sublime, then turning 
away his helm from the thirty-eighth parallel and carry- 
ing home to England the sure announcement of a new 
continent. The first European that ever beheld the 
white beaches of Maryland, the brave navigator was 
dreaming of the Indies and their spices and gold 
with all the romance of 1498 ; but he did not know 
how Jehovah's hand was at the helm, preparing a 
refuge for the suffering and oppressed of the Old 
World in the years of great need. 

From the captain's map I find that we have had 
glimpses of Fenwick's and Assateague islands, and 
that "Sinepuxent" is the name of the arborescent 
grounds beyond. The inner sheet of beautiful waters 
is now called " New Haven Bay," but I hope that the 
rightful aboriginal name will finally prevail and dis- 
place the foreign intruder. Assateague — Sinepuxent : 
the unaccustomed sounds point to the people who 
inhabit these wilds and whose acquaintance we must 
make ere long. In the distance, across the bay, do 
we not discover the little cabins and the smoke of 
a town of the natives? Oh, I wonder what our life 



A. D. i68o.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. II 

among those strange people is to be ? Can the Amer- 
can tomahawk prove more cruel than the English mitre ? 
Somewhere between these ocean-waves and the mag- 
nificent Chesapeake of which we have heard so much, 
our lot is to be cast and new graveyards are to be 
made. Here and there we seem to see indications of 
settlement upon the main by the whites (i*). Who are 
these that are ahead of us as pioneers ? Are they con- 
tent ? Is the virgin soil more prolific of thorns or flow- 
ers ? So I sit upon the advancing prow and pry over 
into the profound unknown, and wonder and wonder. 

Sail on as lightly and hopefully as you can toward 
the contemplated harbor, my graceful caravel, and 
remember what a frail cargo you are bearing of girl- 
hood's fancies and visions of the improbable. Yes, 
and you are freighted with the past as well. 

Far backward over this waste of billows, nestled 
behind the cliffs of Albion, I see a dear little cottage 
embowered in vines and fragrant with the odors of 
springtime. The hedge is green, the trees are leafy and 
tremulous, the sky is smiling in sunshine. The rich 
English landscape widens away, dotted with houses, 
checkered with wheat-fields and adorned at intervals 
with temples of the Most High God. 

Ah ! why should the bright scene have been clouded? 
Why make it a crime to worship the good Lord as the 
pious soul believes to be right ? Especially hard is it 
for the conscience to be dominated by king and cour- 
tiers who have no conscience of their own — men wick- 
ed and corrupt, whose religion is a hatred of those who 
love the Saviour. 

There ! I have bravely put upon my page a solemn 

* Figures in brackets refer to the Appendix. 



12 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1680. 

truth which on the other side of the sea would have 
been treason. My reckless goosequill, thou art dis- 
loyal to the Stuart! The breath of May floats out 
from the Maryland shore redolent already with inspi- 
rations of freedom. 

My honored sire joins us, his well-worn Bible in 
hand. When leaving our old home for ever, we all 
had our especial treasures from which we could not 
part — mother's embroidered family-tree; John's gun, 
with its wheel-lock ; Martha's Book of Martyrs, by 
John Foxe ; and my own theorbo, with which I hope 
" to sooth a savage breast," as Mr. William Shake- 
speare once said — but my father's one treasure is the 
Holy Book so beautifully translated under King James 
seventy years ago, and which comprises for my sire 
his sweetest music, his grandest martyrology, his 
armory of defence and his family record, all in one. 
In the times of our increasing troubles it had been 
his bosom-companion, his daily solace. If new nations 
are ever to arise upon this Western continent, he firmly 
believes that all their greatness is to grow from the 
teachings of the Book divine. 

For a while my thoughtful sire turns his eyes to 
the shore, and then, the household all gathered, he 
opens the sacred pages and reads : " By faith Abraham, 
when he was called to go out into a place which he 
should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed, and 
he went out not knowing whither he went. By faith 
he sojourned in a strange country, dwelling in taber- 
nacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of 
the same promise; for he looked for a city which 
hath foundations whose maker and builder is God." 

Then we all kneel, and we know that the roar of 



A. D. i6So.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 1 3 

the billows does not drown his words from the Ear 
in the heavens : 

" Thou Mightiest One, who hast measured the 
waters in the hollow of thy hand and meted out 
heaven with a span and comprehended the dust of 
the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in 
scales and the hills in a balance, thou art God, and 
thou alone. The Old World and the New are alike 
thy handiwork. The centuries gone and the centuries 
to come are thy vassals. In august sovereignty, 
through persecution and wrong, but in righteousness 
infinite, thou art so ruling as to cast many exiles upon 
yonder wilderness. May truth and rectitude and re- 
ligious liberty take root upon every hill and plain and 
valley ! May the continent be occupied for God ! In 
yonder province, through the rivalry of two cruel 
churches, thy sceptre has evolved the boon of equal 
toleration to all. Surely thy ways are marvelous. 
Be thou our Maryland's Lord Proprietary. Shape 
thou the destinies of those who have gone, and 
of those who are yet to come. The wilderness blos- 
soming as the rose, may it blossom with thy glory ! 
May the New World teach the Old the lesson of the 
rights of man and the rights of God !" 

My father always reminded me of what they tell us 
of the stauncher Puritan days. 

As we rose from our knees, the heavy burst of the 
breakers along the Maryland beach seemed to swell 
heavenward the response, "Amen, and amen !" 

Chingoteague, Matompkin, Watchapreague, Match- 
apungo, the names imitating the roll and tumble of the 
surges along the shore, — so we pass on down the coast 
of the sister-colony named for the Virgin Queen. En- 



14 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1680. 

tering the broad Chesapeake — said to mean, in the 
Indian language, " the Mother of Waters " — my heart 
leaps back once more across the great ocean whose 
billows wash the shore of Britain, and, thinking of the 
days departed, two or three pictures rise before me which 
I wish to perpetuate upon the pages of my journal. 

First Picture. — A plain room in the city of Bath ; 
a little girl of four years entering the door, her hand 
in her father's, her timid heart beating in awe, her 
eyes looking around for the good man of whom she 
has often heard. Driven from his pulpit at Taunton, 
hunted, imprisoned, maltreated, until now his health 
is gone, he is lingering only a little this side the gate 
of heaven ; for no iniquitous Five-Mile Act can keep 
him at a distance from the Celestial City. When the 
child sees him worn and emaciated, she would shrink 
away; but his gentle eye seems to melt into hers 
and his voice sounds like the voice of an angel. 
She hears him tell of holy joys and heavenly rav- 
ishments, and of patient waiting to be borne away. 
Speaking of the sweet love of Jesus for the little ones, 
his transparent saintly face seems to light with more 
than human beauty, and his arm draws gently around 
her waist, as if to lift her with him to the bosom 
of God. The child could never forget the year 1668 
and the godly Joseph AUeine. The day was to come 
when this memory and his book. The Alarm to the 
Unconverted, were to lead her to Christ. Little did 
the child know that during the same year, 1668, was 
born in far America a baby-girl who was to be her 
friend and companion in the after-days. 

Second Picture. — Eight years have passed. The 
same maiden, grown large, but still a child, is playing 



A. D. 1680.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 1 5 

in their pleasant cottage-yard with neighbor Winston's 
younger son — the boy four years her senior and her 
favorite playmate from infancy. His family are of the 
Established Church, good people and tolerant ; for such 
were found even in those evil times. No week passes 
without many romps by William and the child in the 
pretty trellised enclosure. To-day they are happy, as 
usual, and too absorbed to notice the highway, until 
a rude voice exclaims, 

" You had better be gone, young sir, and leave that 
Presbyterian wench alone." 

Before she has time to think, William flings back to 
the gay troup of cavaliers the angry reply, 

" You had best be gone yourselves and learn better 
breeding before you ride this way again !" 

They dismount and dash through the gate to seize 
the boy, but he stands his ground, defying them and 
giving back taunt for taunt. She sees them growing 
more enraged ; and when one of them draws his sword 
upon her playmate, she rushes recklessly in between. 
Then one of the cavaliers strikes heavily with his 
hand, and she is thrown upon the grass. The blow is 
not so hard but she can understand the harder words : 

" Take that, you Puritan whelp !" 

The boy catches up a stone to hurl at her assailant, 
when they seize him and, cursing, carry him off She 
hears him say as they drag him away, 

" If the Church must have such base defenders as 
you, I too will be a Puritan !" 

William's father had too much influence at court for 
his son to suffer harm, but he has been my ideal hero 
ever since. 

Those were sad days in the British Isles. 



1 6 THE DA YS OF MAKE M IE. [A. D. 1680. 

Third Picture. — A lovely Sabbath morning not 
long ago. Last year occurred the slaying of Arch- 
bishop Sharp in Scotland and the battle of Bothwell 
Bridge, and the redoubled hatred against Presbytery in 
Scotland and everywhere. Our king had lately re- 
proached his illegitimate son, Monmouth, with spar- 
ing so many lives at Bothwell and troubling the gov- 
ernment with prisoners. Our pastor was impoverished 
and banished. A few neighbors and their children 
are collected in our little parlor, my dear father 
reading the Scriptures and talking of God's promises. 
Then, amid the hush of the day, the company are led 
in prayer by the deep tones of my sire. Suddenly 
loud knocks and boisterous voices at the door, and 
then my loved father is hurried away to lie six months 
in a dungeon under charge of convening a riotous 
assembly, his real crime being that he did not use 
prescribed prayers and frequent the parish church. 
The Conventicle Act of 1664 had forbidden any one 
over sixteen years of age to attend any other than the 
Established worship in any place where five or more 
persons were present. 

And so we are here. We pass Naswadox, Occa- 
hannock, Pungoteague, Matchatank, Onancock, Ches- 
sonessex, Mosongo, and find ourselves steering through 
a narrowing sound toward the mouth of a little river 
about one hundred miles up this great bay. Space 
around for scores of mighty navies, our brave craft 
floats solitary and alone upon the bosom of the vast 
inland sea. Will the day ever come when this wide 
stretch of waters shall be busy with the commerce of 
the world ? 

The view around is far from unattractive, though 



A. D. i68o.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. \J 

there is nothing grand or startling in its effects — no 
rocky coasts, no towering mountains. The absence 
of these, leaves here a charm of quietude and serenity. 
Brooding softly over all we see, is an indescribable 
somctliing which falls most genially into harmony with 
the yearning of tired souls. Our lives have already had 
enough of the harsh and the boisterous. 

Green marshes hanging out like beautiful floating 
frills from the drapery of mainland; dunes of clean 
sand spotted over with flocks of sea-birds ; hundreds 
of interjacent coves and lakes and miniature bays, 
placid, multiform, bringing heaven and earth as closely 
mated as two friends looking into the same mirror; 
evergreen forests rising slowly from the broad levels, 
as if loth to break the repose of some great millen- 
nium, — all possessing a soft picturesqueness of their 
own, comporting happily with the moods of a heart 
that would have sung to it a lullaby of peace. I look 
at these many graceful indentations around the Mary- 
land coast, these outstretched arms of welcome, and I 
seem to see a perpetual hospitality oflering itself to all 
who have been struck by earth's storms and are yearn- 
ing for a tranquil home. 

Martha smiles at my enthusiasm. 

Passing up within the banks of the dark-watered 
Pocomoke, two incidents from its past remind me that 
the little river already has a history. The first time its 
ripples were ever stirred by the keel of the civilized 
was in 1608, when Captain John Smith entered the 
stream with his exploring-party in search of fresh 
water, and when, as he tells us, " at first the people 
with great fury seemed to assault us, yet at last with 
songs and dances and much mirth became very tract- 
2 



1 8 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1680. 

able." These were the tribes among whom we are to 
live. Perhaps, while I write, we are sailing over the 
very spot where Virginia's truest knight bargained with 
the savages for water and obtained " such puddle that 
never till then we ever knew the want of good water. 
We digged and searched in many places, but before 
two days were expired we would have refused two 
barricoes of gold for one of that puddle water of 
Wighcocomoco." So he called the Pocomoke. 

Suddenly, from the shore, where we see a cluster of 
rude cabins and banks of sea-shells, two or three boats 
hollowed out of trees shoot out and paddle to meet us. 
The children, affrighted, run below. Brother John 
hurries after his wheel-lock gun. The captain smiles 
and assures us there is no danger, the red men are 
peaceable and friendly. Our brigantine was fitted out 
for trade with the natives and with the farmers along 
the shore. The savages are holding up oysters, crying, 
'• Kaw-sheh ;" fish, crying, " Wammass ;" beavers, 
shouting, ** Nataque ;" turkeys, advertising them as 
" Pah-quun ;" and maize or Indian corn, calling aloud, 
" Cawl-naa-woop ;" uttering harsh gutturals as of 
beasts. I distinguish but one English word, "Beads! 
Beads !" For these gaudy ornaments they clamor 
more loudly than for anything else, although the 
scarcity of clothing is lamentable (2). 

Our captain tells us that these Indians are of the one 
chief Eastern Shore nation of the Nanticokes, whom 
Captain Smith pronounces " the best marchants of all 
the salvages." Each tribe is designated by the name 
of the stream on which it mostly dwells. Hence I 
hear already of the Choptanks, the Wicomicoes, the 
Monokins, the Chingoteagues, the Assawamans, the 



A. D. i68o.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. I9 

Pocomokes — uncouth words to the unaccustomed ear, 
but possessed of a wild music of their own which, it is 
to be hoped, shall go on sounding with the roar of the 
waves and the sighs of the pines for ever. 

So much has been written of the proud, stately red 
men of America that I must confess a little disappoint- 
ment at the comparatively diminutive appearance of 
these Indians. Martha smiles again, as she has a way 
of smiling whenever my romantic notions are discon- 
certed. Our philosophic father wonders if there is 
anything in the climate to produce this dwarfing of 
stature, and if in the course of centuries the same 
causes will superinduce like results in the descendants 
of the" white settlers (3). 

I record my second historical item. Forty-five years 
ago — only a year after the settlement of St. Mary's, and 
six years after the occupation of Kent Island by the 
troubler William Clayborne — Lieutenant Ratcl iff War- 
ren, an adherent of Clayborne, enters the stream, in 
command of the pinnace Longtail, with a crew of 
thirteen men. Soon two pinnaces, the St. Margaret and 
the St. Helen, fitted out by Governor Calvert, pursue 
and assault the other. The quiet of these scenes is 
broken by the hoarse voice of conflict, and four dying 
men — three Virginians and one Marylander — dye the 
dark waters darker with their blood. There, upon the 
modest bosom of the little Pocomoke, was fought one 
of the first naval battles waged by white men upon 
American waters.* 

Marshes upon right and left, and sweet smells of the 
hay ; thick forests occasionally crowding to the water's 

* April 23, 1635. Founders of Maryland, Rev. E. D. Neill, D.D., 
p. 52. 



20 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1680. 

edge ; patches of wild flowers ; a plantation gladden- 
ing the eye now upon one bank, and now upon the 
other, suggesting thoughts of neighborhood and neigh- 
bors in days to come, — thus slowly with favoring 
breezes we ascend the tortuous river. 

Another boat puts off from the right bank, and, 
dropping anchor, we await its coming. Through the 
cedars and maples a brick building is discovered about 
one hundred yards from the shore, looking homelike 
amid its setting of trees, wearing the comfortable as- 
pect of scenes left far behind and contrasting strikingly 
with the wigwams of the buyers of the beads. 

In the approaching boat — called the Ark — my eye 
singles out a gentleman of distinguished appearance 
who rises from his seat. He must be about fifty years 
of age * and is evidently in full vigor of body and mind. 
No one need mistake the mien of a born leader of 
men. His face is full of intelligence, and underlying 
all is the unmistakable impress of manly character. 

As he arose from his seat I noticed that my father 
rose also, and that a gesture of recognition passed be- 
tween them. The pleasant explanation soon follows. 
This is Colonel William Stevens, judge of the county 
court since its organization in 1 666, and the incumbent 
of other high offices in the province (4). 

He comes on board, helped by my father's hand. 
They knew each other in boyhood, my sire visiting at 
the house of his father, John Stevens, in the parish of 
Mealemore, Buckinghamshire. The judge was one of 
the earliest settlers in this county, and he has been 
very active in giving information to the oppressed in 
Europe and opening up to them this asylum from per- 

* Born in 1630. 



A. D. 1680.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 21 

secution. When my father began to look abroad for a 
place of refuge, it was natural to apply to his old friend 
for advice with regard to the selection of our Trans- 
atlantic home. He came out to-day for supplies, nor 
did we know we were so near him ; so that the surprise 
is mutually pleasant. I look upon our first friend in 
America, and the wilderness begins to brighten. 

Under his kind invitation, our family are for a while 
the judge's guests. It is Friday, and our friend insists 
that we cannot become comfortably domiciled in our 
strange home before the Sabbath, and that we can far 
better enjoy the rest of God's holy day with him. 
Thus it comes about that on my sixteenth birthday 
we have first set foot upon American soil and under the 
auspices of hospitality as delightful as heart can wish. 
The thought suddenly possesses me, and, stooping 
down, I lay my hand upon the soft cool earth and 
devote this land of the Eastern Shore to such hospi- 
tality through all her future generations. 

The Sabbath! Glorious day! Was there ever a 
brighter sunrise, a bluer sky ? Breathing is rapture. 

" Hail, bounteous May, that dost inspire 

Mirth and youth and warm desire ! 

Woods and groves are of thy dressing, 

Hill and dale doth boast thy blessing; 

Thus we salute thee with our early song, 

And welcome thee and wish thee long!" 

So sang the old blind bard whom I saw worn and 
wrinkled, looking upon him with childish wonder and 
reverence during the month of his death, six years ago. 
If Mr. Milton ever saw such a May as smiles upon me 
now, he must have seen it in Italy, not in England. 
I sit in the shade, flat on the grass, with the lazy 



22 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1680. 

river at my feet. They tell nie that this little stream 
is essentially Southern in its features, reminding one 
of the bayous along which De Leon sought the foun- 
tain of immortal youth. Wild violets bloom around 
me, mingling their odors with the spicy perfumes of 
sassafras and myrtle. And this is our Maryland — soft, 
breezy, dreamy, balmy, halcyon Maryland ! 

The judge and my father come down from the house 
and take their seats near me, beneath a large wild- 
cherry which overhangs the river. 

"Yes," said our friend, "we call our province the 
* Land of the Sanctuary.' No ostracism here for re- 
ligious sentiment, no denial of the rights of conscience 
to any faith. While to the north and south the settlers 
have broucfht over with them the Old World's intoler- 
ance, here no man can dictate to another his creed. 
Would that we could welcome all victims of ecclesi- 
astical despotism to this favored clime ! After trying 
the experiment of religious liberty, the idea seems 
unmistakably divine." 

I was intensely interested. My father's prayer was 
remembered in which he adored God's sovereignty in 
accomplishing these blessed results through the instru- 
mentality of two persecuting churches. I listened for 
an explanation. 

" Through a charter jealously worded for the pur- 
pose of guarding the religion of an Episcopal kingdom 
and the religion of a Catholic Proprietary from im- 
pinging upon each other, the wisdom of the Infinite 
One prepared a refuge for those oppressed by both 
churches. To no colony would England have granted 
the Papists authority to harass her Protestant subjects, 
and Lord Baltimore was willing to surrender the power 



A. D. 1680.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 23 

to persecute others if thereby he could save his own 
faith from persecution. Then, the ascendency of 
Cromwell resulted to our greater security here, bring- 
ing about the enactment at St. Mary's, in 1649, under 
a Protestant governor and council and legislature, 
of the celebrated act concerning religion. Governor 
Stone was from this Shore, having been sheriff of 
Northampton county, and was an earnest partisan of 
the Parliament" (5). 

At the desire of my father, I jot down everything 
bearing upon the religious history of the colony. 
Afterward I asked our host for a copy of this famous 
act, and I here transcribe the noble words : 

Whereas, the enforcing of the conscience in matters of relig- 
ion hath frequently fallen out to be of dangerous consequence 
in those Commonwealths where it hath been practiced ; and for 
the more quiet and peaceable government of this Province, and 
the better to preserve mutual love and unity amongst the inhab- 
itants here : Be it, therefore, by the Lord Proprietary, with the 
advice and assent of this Assembly, ordained and enacted, that 
no person or persons whatsoever within this Province, or the 
islands, ports, harbors, creeks or havens thereunto belonging, 
professing to beheve in Jesus Christ, shall from henceforth be 
any ways troubled, molested or discountenanced, for or in re- 
spect of his or her religion, nor in the free exercise thereof with- 
in this Province or the islands thereunto belonging, nor any way 
compelled to the belief or exercise of any other religion against 
his or her conscience. 

"These words," continued the judge, "deserve an 
immortality of honor, containing the first explicit 
statement of toleration by any government in the 
history of the world. Let us praise God rather than 
the men who made it. In the events of the times he 
has so ruled that the Catholic Proprietary should be 
glad to approve such a law in self-defence and for the 



24 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1680. 

protection of his own Church. In the condition of 
affairs in England any other policy would have lost 
him the province and the liberty of his Catholic sub- 
jects. The spirit of our present king, Charles II., 
may be understood from the fact that at that time, 
from his exile at Breda, he denounced Baltimore for 
yielding to the Parliament and * admitting all kinds of 
sectaries and schismatics and ill-affected persons into 
that plantation.' " * 

Said my father, 

" If the Presbyterian settlers had been in numbers 
sufficient to have ministers and public worship of their 
own, do you think they would have been treated until 
now with the same leniency as in the past? Our 
Church has never yet been strong enough in the 
province to awaken the jealousy of others." 

** The point is not without force," answered our 
host ; " for the special hatred of ritualistic churches 
to your own is historical. But, under the circum- 
stances, our Proprietaries have been aware that they 
had most to fear from the Church of England. In 
addition to this, the planting of this colony by the 
Baltimores was largely a commercial speculation ; and, 
wishing to see their province fill with population, they 
have known that the protection of all religions would 
invite immigration and sooner bring prosperity. I 
may say further that this has never been in any true 
sense a Catholic province. Of those originally com- 
ing over in the Ark and Dove, the majority were 
Protestants, and since then the Protestant immigration 
has far outstripped the Catholic (6). I wish to say, 
further, that, from personal acquaintance with the 

* Terra Marice, Rev. E. D. Neill, D. D., Philadelphia, p. 88. 



A. D. 1680.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 2$ 

present Lord Baltimore — who succeeded his father 
in 1675, and who during the year following approved 
the re-enactment of the law of 1649— I believe that he 
sincerely desires the happiness of all his colonists. 
We feel better content when he is in the province, 
and are rejoicing that he returned to us from Europe 
four months ago." 

" Possessed of this rare treasure of religious liberty, 
why have the Presbyterians been content to remain 
shepherdless ? How long are the beautiful Sabbaths 
to come and go over a land so sadly needing an or- 
thodox ministry?" 

*' The Presbyterian settlers are widely separated and 
ver>' poor. Our county was at first principally occu- 
pied by Quakers and Episcopalians from the adjoin- 
ing province. It is only in the few later years that 
your people have been coming from Scotland, the 
North of Ireland and France to this part of the colony. 
My own efforts have contributed zealously to this end. 
My intrepid friend Colonel Ninian Beall came over 
from Fifeshire some ten years ago, and has effected a 
considerable Scotch settlement between the Patuxent 
and Potomac. There have been a few scattering Pres- 
byterians elsewhere. In the year 1669 the Rev. Mat- 
thew Hill, one of the two thousand ejected ministers 
in England, and a Presbyterian in preference, after the 
loss of almost everything at home, reached the prov- 
ince and settled for some years in Charles county. 
He may be said to be the first Presbyterian minister 
that ever sailed upon the Chesapeake. He was a good 
scholar, a serious, warm and lively preacher, and of a 
free and generous spirit. He began to hope for great 
usefulness, when the clouds darkened and he went 



26 THE DAYS OF MAKEMTE. [A. D. 1680. 

away. No church was planted, no permanent effect 
produced (7). 

" Most of our Presbyterians have come from amid 
the fines and confiscations of Europe stripped of all 
their earthly possessions. Their simple lives could 
barely be supported but for Nature's generous supplies 
from the woods and the waters. Some are yet serving 
their four years as indentured servants in payment of 
the fare across the ocean ; others, condemned by their 
persecutors to slavery, given to favorites or purchased 
by speculators, have been sold in America for a term 
of years. We could not expect ministers to come 
fi'om Europe for the mere pittance they were able to 
contribute, and they had to be content with the 
preaching of the Quakers. These strange people 
have had some of their strongest preachers among 
us, and have done much good in our county. 

"At other times, in a primitive way, we have had 
services of our own, calling out some unordained 
teacher to break unto us the bread of life. Eight 
years ago— 1672 — while Justices Henry Smith, James 
Jones, John Winder, George Johnson, William Col- 
burn and myself were upon the bench, the grand jury, 
through their Scotch foreman, Mr. David Brown, 
called one of our neighbors to preach statedly at 
four points in the county. As guardians of law and 
morals, the jury felt that they could do nothing which 
would better contribute to the good of the people. 
Mr. Brown is still living, and a Presbyterian. Such 
was our device for securing regular gospel services. 
Our records will bear to future generations the follow- 
ing testimony to the desire of the hearts of the desti- 
tute for the word of life : * It is the opinion of us grand 



A. D. 1680.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 27 

jurors that sermon be taught four several places 
in the county — viz., one the first Sunday, at the house 
of Mr. WiUiam Stevens, at Pocomoke; one the second 
Sunday, at the house of Daniel Custis, in Annamessex ; 
one the third Sunday, at the house of Christopher Nut- 
ter, in Monokin; and one on the fourth Sunday, at the 
house of Thomas Roe, at Wicomico. And it is our 
desire that Mr. Matix should here preach ' " (8). 

**And yet," persisted my father, " I am sure there 
are ministers of ours, men of God, who would be 
willing, for the good of souls and the honor of the 
Master, to share the poverty of the colonists and 
encounter the utmost stringency "of self-denial." 

This was the beginning of many conversations upon 
that subject. 

Now behold us settled in our new home. The 
house, built of logs and covered with cypress shingles, 
stands upon the southern bank of the Pocomoke in 
sight of Stevens's Ferry. We have succeeded in 
making our four rooms marvelously comfortable, 
for my dear mother could transform the bark wigwam 
of an Indian into a thing of beauty. The country 
being almost a perfect level, we are rather proud of 
our little hill and its gentle slope to the river. Across 
the stream rise the green cypresses, straight as arrows 
and covered with foliage fringe. Back of our planta- 
tion the pines form a wall of evergreen, filling the air 
with their resinous breath and incessant whisperings. 

While I write a sweet trill of music attracts my eye 
to the lawn hickory, where a cheerful neighbor seems 
to recognize me as his fellow-denizen of the wilds — a 
little creature all black and golden perched near the 
curious nest that hangs pendent to its twig and swings 



28 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1680. 

in the wind. Dressed in the same colors with the 
decorations of the Lord Proprietary, the colonists 
have loyally bestowed the title of the Baltimore 
oriole. Sing on, happy songster, and may the wor- 
ship of the Marylander be ever as hearty as thine, 
and as independent of the dictation of men ! 

Though late in planting, the July suns and showers 
have brought our maize on finely. Expecting no 
sudden wealth through discovery of gold or idle 
chance, and knowing that prosperity can come only 
by honest industry, John has taken off his coat and 
is very proud of his straight rows. Until now speci- 
mens of this new plant have been to us the greatest 
of curiosities. 

But, ah ! the pones — the delicious pones ! My in- 
genious mother has caught the high art. Golden 
meal scalded through its every atom, enveloped in 
oak leaves, enthroned in the great oven, warming and 
seasoning and sweetening all night, and then the rich, 
mellow, yellow, smoking slices brought upon the table 
in the morning hungry for the butter or the honey ! 
King Charles himself, amid all his French gluttony, 
tastes no more dainty morsel than that. I put on 
the gift of prophecy and predict for the Eastern Shore 
pone an eternity of fame. 

Our acquaintance is gradually extending. August 
has brought my heart a jewel. The kind judge had 
told us of an interesting family down in Accomack 
and promised me much pleasure in knowing one of 
the daughters. Yesterday, sitting in the door at my 
spinning-wheel, I saw the Ark — named for one of 
the ships which brought the first colonists to St. 
Mary's, forty -six years ago — winging its way up the 



^ 



[A. D. i6So] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 29 

river. The coming of the Ark is always an event 
in :he household. As they land 1 notice among the 
judge's family a bright young creature who captures 
my heart at first sight. Who can help loving what is 
lovable ? So, when I saw the girlish eyes that looked 
for affection, complexion brown with the sunshine of 
Virginia, a native atmosphere of good-breeding rest- 
ing all over the little woman, and pretty pouting lips 
ready to be kissed, I went and kissed them. That 
was our introduction. 

The name came afterward very charmingly : Naomi 
— " pleasantness." I did not love her less for the 
musical Bible syllables full of pastoral memories. I 
always wanted a younger sister, and this twelve-year- 
old maiden corresponds precisely with my ideal. Lit- 
tle did I know that I was coming all the way to this 
Western world to find her (9). 

We maidens always fall into a feeling of motherly 
interest in somethmg, and the difference in our ages of 
four years settles me into a delightful sense of pro- 
prietorship in my friend. On my solicitation, seconded 
by the prompt acquiescence of the little Virginian, the 
judge consents to leave her with us a few days. My 
special guest, I set myself to the responsible task of 
entertaining her. 

First I take Naomi to my garden, where I am en- 
deavoring to coax some of the indigenous Maryland 
flowers to grow under culture in contact with our im- 
ported civilization. The brilliant laurel seems unwill- 
ing and coy. One of my wild roses is blooming 
rarely, and I put my arm around the tiny waist of my 
friend and call her my own sweet wild rose of America. 

Now we stroll along the river-banks, now bravely 



30 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. U. 1680. 

off into the woods ; for why should we two heroines 
be afraid of the red men or the beasts of prey ? An 
unknown flower is discovered, and transplanted to my 
garden as a remembrancer of our blossoming friend- 
ship. Farther out we venture, intrepid explorers of 
the boundless wilderness, until in the distance we cer- 
tainly hear an ominous howl, and we retire from the 
expedition. 

We wander up to the ferry to watch chance colonists, 
of all grades of society and in all varieties of costumes, 
passing from one part of the large county to another, 
and to see the Indians who come there to sell their 
poultry and buy trinkets. We are not afraid, for we 
know it has been part of our county's glory to treat well 
these children of the forest. To one with rather a 
pleasant face we give some beads and some sweet 
bread from our pockets, and he seems very grateful 
and assures us that he will bring us a " noose-atq " in 
return. We like his name — Matchacoopah* — and we 
go back home wondering what the gift will be. 

Naomi Anderson slept in my arms every night 
until the Ark came back — all too soon — and bore 
my treasure away, while I return to my spinning- 
wheel. 

Oh the gorgeous autumn woods ! Surely there was 
never such profusion of colors, such marvelous com- 
binations of tints — scarlet, purple, crimson, amethyst, 
pearl, sapphire and ruby ; canopies of gold fringing the 
green of the pines, flashes of flame blazing out here 
and there as from woods on fire. With no prema- 
ture frosts to blight and kill, the foliage quietly passes 

* The name of this Indian, and those of all others mentioned here- 
after, are taken from the eourt records. 



A. D. i68o.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 3 1 

through all the stages of a gentle dying, and, like the 
dying saint, puts on new glories to the end. With her 
Indian summer haze and her regal drapery, verily the 
Eastern Shore is the queenliest of climes. 

Amid the tenderness and pathos of the season a 
letter reaches me by my father's hand from William. 
Letters arrive at long intervals by trading-vessels and 
chance travelers. This came in a sloop of Mr. Ander- 
son's, and in forwarding it to me a childlike pen had 
written upon the back, ** From one dearer than Naomi, 
perhaps." Is the darling jealous of William ? 

The son of our old neighbor expresses the fear that 
we may all be scalped by the Indians, but intimates 
that this could be no worse than what the Presbyteri- 
ans have had to endure, and are yet to endure, from 
professed Christians of England. He misses his play- 
mate, but is glad that we can now worship as we please. 
As an index to the state of affairs from which we have 
escaped, he speaks of two expressive words just intro- 
duced into the language — " mob " and " sham ;" also 
two other terms which sound almost as uncouth and 
meaningless as the harsh Indian jargon — " Whig " and 
"Tory;" the rustics of the western lowlands of Scot- 
land supplying the one term, the Popish outlaws of the 
bogs of Ireland supplying the other.* A tempest 
rages over the proposal to exclude the Duke of 
York from the succession because of his being a Papist. 
The bitter conflict between Popery and Prelacy affords 
some temporary relief to the Protestant Nonconform- 
ists. The latter, however, have little to expect while 
subjected in turn to the power of two foes who both 
hate Presbytery worse than they hate each other. 

* Macaulay, i. p. 2CX). 



32 THE DAYS OF MAKE M IE. [A. D. 1680. 

Meanwhile, William tells me that the cruelties in- 
crease in poor Scotland. The country overrun with 
brutal soldiery, the curates acting as informers, the 
Sanquhar Declaration has been issued by the hunted 
people of God, full of brave truth and amounting 
almost to a declaration of independence. Cameron 
has fallen at Airdmoss, and his hands and head, after 
being shown to his poor old father in prison, have 
been fixed up in public places to the gaze of Edin- 
burgh. Hackston, already wounded and bleeding, 
has had his hands cut off one after the other ; then he 
is hung, and while yet conscious his bosom is ripped 
open, his heart is torn out and held up quivering to 
the view of the friends standing around. The Duke 
of York has gone to Scotland and is hounding on 
these enormities, giving sad evidence of the spirit 
that is in him by lately being present at and enjoying 
the tortures of a victim of the horrible iron boot, the 
other noblemen hurrying away, unable to bear the 
brutal sight. This is the man who is likely to be 
our future king !* 

Thus from our Maryland asylum we still get 
glimpses of the tribulations of God's saints in the 
Old World. My correspondent hopes that he will 
not be forgotten, and thinks that we shall not always 
be parted by the wide ocean. 

In our little boat — called the Dove, from the other 
of Lord Baltimore's pilgrim fleet — my father has just 
returned from down the river with good news. Wher- 
ever a Presbyterian heart is found, it is found beating 
with deep longing for the courts of the Lord. In 

* Hetherington's Hisioiy of the Church of Scotland, pp. 260, 261; 
also Wodrow, passim. 



A. D. 1680.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 33 

the midst of abounding wickedness and Sabbath des- 
ecration saddened souls are crying more and more 
loudly for our own official expounders of the word, 
and for the holy sacraments as of old. Colonists of 
our faith are still arriving. While Europe groans, has 
not God his eye upon this continent for good ? Col- 
onel Stevens is in full sympathy with the praying 
ones whom he has invited to this county, and of 
late a letter has started from his hand to the North 
of Ireland pleading for a preacher. He addresses 
the Presbytery of Laggan, a body of men full of mar- 
tyr-spirit, laying before them the claims of this great 
country and begging in the name of the Presbyterian 
exiles" for some man of apostolic mould to raise the 
standard of sound doctrine and scriptural polity upon 
these Western shores. 

May the good providence of Him who owns both 
the' Old World and the New, further that letter on 
its way and prosper it in its quest! 

3 



CHAPTER II. 

A. D. 1681. 

"All may see how free Grace is expected and desired with Gifts to 
qualifie for the Ministerial Office." — Makemie. 

MY father is pleased with my plan for keeping a 
journal, thinking it will be interesting to the 
family in the future to read over some record of our 
first impressions and early experiences in this strange 
land. His hand is unsteady from his labors in the 
fields or he would write himself. I see, indeed, that 
this is likely to be my father's journal rather than my 
own. Whatever is sensible in it must be attributed to 
him ; the rest, to me. 

The feeling of distance, exile, isolation, is at times 
oppressive, at other times romantic and fascinating. 
The people are settling almost entirely along the 
streams, while interminable forests stretch gloomily 
away in all directions. To the imagination these 
boundless wilds seem fit haunts for goblins and de- 
mons. No wonder that the superstitious colonists 
tremble sometimes under dread of witchcraft and the 
power of the evil one. They have even called one of 
our Chesapeake islands " Diel's," or the devil's. 

Matchacoopah has redeemed his promise. The 
other day his copper features suddenly appeared near 
the house, his coarse black hair ornamented with the 
feathers of the red- bird, and leading a brown creature 

34 



A. D. 1681.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 35 

tied with a string made of the inner bark of a tree. 
Martha could not restrain her smile. 

The Indian pointed to the broad leaves floating upon 
the river and made signs for "Water-Lily." Finding 
me last summer paddling my canoe through one of 
our swamps hunting this most beautiful of flowers, he 
has insisted ever since that this shall be my name. 

Beckoning him nearer, what was my delight to find 
Matchacoopah's gift was a tame fawn ! and this was the 
meaning of the word over which we had wondered — 
" noose-atq." At first the pretty creature was timid and 
shy, but she readily yielded to kindness, looking with 
her lustrous eyes into mine and laying her head upon 
my shoulder. The Indian was pleased at the apprecia- 
tion of his gift, and doubled my joy by signifying that 
he had one for Naomi also. I think that the friend- 
ship between Matchacoopah and myself is assured. 

The Indian dialect will supply our future dictionaries 
with another undying word — the wholesome hominy. 
Its mellowness seems to run through the soft Indian 
syllables — "Ahuminea" (10). The handmill and hom- 
iny-mortar are important articles of household equip- 
ment in this new land. 

It is full time to mention three neighbors gained 
from Europe this year. 

A Scotch family from the fields of Ayrshire, from 
the banks of the Clyde. In broad accents they tell 
us of the scenes from which they have escaped in 
their native land. In January two of Scotia's daugh- 
ters died upon the scaffold for the double crime of 
hearing Cargill preach and expressing womanly sym- 
pathy for the sufferers from the bloody moss-troopers. 
" So I lay down my life," said Isabel Anderson, " for 



36 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1681. 

owning and adhering to Jesus Christ his being a free 
King in his own house. I have looked greedy-Hke to 
such a lot as this, but still thought it was too high for 
me." She passed away crying, " Welcome, everlasting 
love, joy and light !" 

The same day Marion Harvey, twenty years of age, 
telling of her ungodly life while a hearer of curates, 
and of the blessed change under the true gospel, also 
sealed her fidelity in a triumphant death, lauding the 
power of grace and proclaiming, " I bless the Lord 
that the snare is broken and we are escaped" (ii). 

I look at the Scotch lassies among our immigrant 
families and almost envy them their birthplace. 

Cargill's head is beaten by the rains and blackened 
by the sun upon the gates of Edinburgh, but nothing 
satiates the barbarity of the oppressor. The vile 
test-oath has been devised, by which conscience, the 
Covenant, the Scriptures, and everything sacred to a 
Scotchman's heart, must be forsworn in abject subordi- 
nation to the supremacy of a profligate king. Many are 
relinquishing the dreary struggle and going into vol- 
untary exile. Thus, our neighbors have turned away 
from their bloody home-hearths and are bringing the 
Catechism and the Covenant to Maryland's free Eastern 
Shore. 

Another family hails from the county of Derry, in 
the North of Ireland. Disheartened under the re- 
newed stringency of the government and the more un- 
conscionable bitterness of the prelates, our own minis- 
try silenced, and seeing no promise of religious freedom 
in the Green Isle, they have made the salt waters of 
the Atlantic Salter with the tears of exile. The ardent 
faith of Ulster has come with them over the billows, 



A. D. 1 68 1.] THE DAYS OF MAKE M IE. 37 

and the plaintive Celtic tones which uttered God's 
praises upon the shores of Lough Foyle now speak 
the honors of Jesus on the banks of the Pocomoke. 

The third family come from among the vineyards of 
Languedoc, bringing with them the traditions of an an- 
cestry who fought under the prince of Conde and Henry 
of Navarre, and who have handed down from father to 
son stories of the horrors of St. Bartholomew's Day. 
Louis XIV., growing more superstitious as he grows 
older, and falling more and more under the influence 
of Madame de Maintenon, has been steadily deepen- 
ing his despotism over the Huguenots, and is evidently 
contemplating a revocation of the Edict of Nantes. To 
escape present hardships and more terrible probabil- 
ities, our friends fled first to London, but, seeing in- 
tolerance and wrong reigning there too, they set sail 
for the New World. The soft accent, broken but 
sweet, has sounded very charmingly to John and 
myself to-day while comparing Maryland's balmy 
evenings to the skies and breezes of Southern 
France, Then we listen to the entrancing voice of 
Margaret — named for the good Queen Margaret of 
Navarre — while she sings to us some sad ballad con- 
cerning the persecutions of the Albigenses or the 
heroism of Roger Raymond. Now, again, the sweet 
Southern voice sings a selection from the Holy Song- 
Book of Clement Marot, written one hundred and 
forty-six years ago under the auspices of Beza and 
Calvin and set to an air composed by the rnartyr- 
musician Gaudemel. 

My philosophic father has been speculating upon 
the future characteristics of the Presbyterianism set- 
tling upon our soil from so m^ny various tributaries. 



38 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1681. 

Immediately around us here the sturdy conscientious- 
ness of Engb'sh Nonconformity, the Scot's undying 
loyalty to the crown-rights of Jesus, the generous 
fervor of Irish piety, the enthusiastic devotion of the 
countrymen of Farel and Jean Claude, — he sees in 
the commingling of these noble types the promise of 
a new and mighty evangelization. 

If my brother John continues to listen as he did to- 
day to those troubadour canzos, I see some possibil- 
ities, too. 

However all that may be, I am delighted to include 
among my American friendships Mary, the rosy Scotch 
lassie ; Peggy, the blue-eyed maid of Ulster ; and Mar- 
garet, the sweet-toned singer of the Vincennes. 

In the very midst of our welcomes to these fugitives 
from the harassments of the established religions of 
Europe, startling reports burst upon us. Rebellion 
in the province ! A plot against the Proprietary ! 
Bloodshed imminent ! 

We wait and listen. John is thinking of Roger 
Raymond and polishing his gun. New colonists are 
always excitable. Without mails, the rumors may 
be exaggerated or they may not equal the truth. 
Oh, why will not wicked men permit the province 
to enjoy the peace which tranquil Nature breathes 
around ? 

The Eastern Shore is almost wholly Protestant, 
and Lord Baltimore and his Church have never dis- 
turbed us. But there is a growing restlessness and 
agitation abroad not confined wholly to the other 
side of the bay. The domination and state support 
long enjoyed in Europe are still lusted after by our 
prelatic neighbors. Many from Virginia long to 



A. D. 1681.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 39 

bring with them across the Hne a right to supremacy 
and to the tithes. 

Five years ago— May, 1676 — one of their Western 
Shore clergymen, John Yeo, wrote to the archbishop 
of Canterbury invoking direct interference by the 
Enghsh authorities. He said, '* Here are in this 
province ten or twelve thousand souls, and but three 
Protestant ministers of us that are conformable to 
the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England." 
He begs " that a maintenance for a Protestant ministry 
may be established as well in this province as in Vir- 
ginia. I think that the generality of the people may 
be brought by degrees to a uniformity, provided we 
had more ministers that were truly conformable to 
our mother the Church, aiid no7ie but such zvere 
suffered to preacJi among tisT 

Ah, yes, John Yeo ! and to prevent them from 
preaching among us I suppose you are ready to use 
the same appliances of thumb-screw and gunpowder 
as in bleeding Scotland. Until you are permitted to 
do that you will still continue to call our Maryland 
" a Sodom of uncleanness and a pesthouse of iniquity." 

To that mournful statement of grievances the Lord 
Proprietary, then in England, replied, " The act of 
1649, confirmed in 1676, tolerates and protects every 
sect. Four ministers of the Church of England are 
in possession of plantations which afford them a 
decent subsistence. From the various religious tenets 
of the members of the Assembly, it would be extreme- 
ly difficult to induce it to consent to a law that shall 
oblige any sect to maintain other ministers than its 
own " (12). 

Plantations would not satisfy these grasping clergy- 



40 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1681. 

men without a tax upon all who differ with them, and 
without the prohibition of all other worship except 
their own. Thus failed that attempt to override the 
noble policy of the colony and to force Episcopacy 
upon the necks of an unwilling people. But the agita- 
tions and contentions have continued, until Governor 
Culpeper of Virginia has just written to the home-gov- 
ernment : ** Maryland is now in a ferment, and not only 
troubled with our disease, poverty, but in very great 
danger of falling in pieces ; whether it be that the old 
Lord Baltimore's politic maxims are not followed by 
the son or that they will not do in the present age." 
The difficulty was not in the policy of the Proprietary, 
except as it conflicted with the designs of ecclesiasti- 
cal factionists. It is said that it was this growing tur- 
bulence Avhich discouraged the good Matthew Hill 
and lost him to our province. 

This Rev. John Yeo — a man of little culture, and as 
little Christian charity — after making his appeal for the 
tithes in vain, left for Hoarkil (Lewes), at the capes of 
the Delaware, where he was the cause of constant dis- 
turbance, and at length was arrested and prosecuted. 
Lately he has returned to the Western Shore to con- 
tribute his influence to the disaffection of the people 
there. 

Suddenly the news flashes along the Pocomoke of 
an insurrection on the other side of the bay against 
the Proprietary government. His life once forfeited 
and spared, the chronic revolutionist Fendal has been 
joined in new plots by the characterless clergyman 
John Coode. The name of the latter accomplice 
throws some light upon the actuating motive. With- 
out respectability, but dignified by the imposition of a 



A. D. 1 68 1.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 4 1 

bishop's hands, his zeal for the Church, inspired by 
her emoluments, fits him to trample upon all rights 
that conflict with his own aggrandizement. Earth's 
worst embodiments of malevolence have been draped 
in soiled clerical robes (13). 

Better news at last. John has put away his gun. 

Our Proprietary has not been caught napping. The 
two leaders have been brought to trial and convicted. 
We expected that they must atone for their crimes 
with their lives, but the clemency of our Proprietary 
has spared them. Colonel Stevens thinks it will result 
in new troubles in the future. We often rejoice that 
our grand Chesapeake Bay separates us from these 
Western Shore turmoils, but there are others around 
us whose countenances wear the shadows of poorly- 
concealed disappointment. 

" 'Tis said the Gods lower down that chain above 
That tyes both Prince and Subject up in love; 
And if this fiction of the Gods be true, 
Few, Mary-Land, in this can boast but you. 
Live ever blest and let those Clouds that do 
Eclipse most States be always Lights to you ; 
And dwelling so, you may for ever be 
The only Emblem of Tranquillity !" 

So sang in our province the rollicking indentured 
servant George Alsop eighteen years ago, and so 
we would ever sing. 

After the anxiety was over and the exquisite Indian- 
summer days again had come, we went upon a not- 
able excursion of thirty miles to our sister-colony. 
To the favoring breezes our little Dove spreads her 
pinions, and in less than a day we fly down the river, 
waving salutations to the Stevens and Jenkins fimilies 



42 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1681. 

as we pass, then out into the sound, now southward 
about three miles to the creek which seems to invite 
our coming. The dreamy attractiveness of our water- 
scenery breathes over us as we go. 

Behind a Httle wooded tributary which enters the 
creek about a half-mile from its mouth we notice a 
pleasant-looking house standing back a short distance 
upon the bank ; and just as the round sun halves him- 
self in the blazing waves of the Chesapeake, Naomi 
and her father await us upon the shore, two little 
white hands throwing kisses as we come. 

Mr. Anderson is an industrious merchant and plant- 
er, vigilant, energetic, determined to make the New 
World take shape under the blows of manly enterprise. 
A sloop unloading at the wharf, over nine hundred 
broad acres lying around his house, another thousand 
between the Onancock and the Matchatank, another 
large estate, called " Occocomson," east of us, on the 
seaboard, at Wollop's, with other possessions elsewhere, 
attest his prosperity. He is about building at Onan- 
cock, made a port of entry last year.* A year ago he 
was made justice of the peace by Governor Chichely. 

My friend Naomi and her younger sister, Comfort, 
were left motherless at a tender age. Sad fate for 
young girls anywhere — especially sad in this new 
country. Three years ago Mr. Anderson married 
Mrs. Mary Renny, widow of John Renny, a woman 
who has had a rough experience in her American 
life, having once been indicted in court for abusing a 
woman's privilege of telling her mind (14). Through 
her Mr. Anderson acquired his Occocomson and 

* Sketches of Virginia^ Foote, p. 44 ; for other facts, the Acco- 
mack records. 



A. D. 1 68 1.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 43 

Pocomoke plantations. We find here such evidences 
of wealth as we have found nowhere else on our 
peninsula. 

Mrs. Anderson came down the lawn attired in a 
flowered silk gown and silver-lace petticoat, a girdle 
clasped with gold buckles, an imposing headdress, a 
black silk scarf flowered with gold, a set of double 
ruffles about her neck, and gold rings on her fingers, 
to welcome us to their home. After a while supper 
was announced, the display of silver on the table 
again reminding us of the great contrasts of riches 
and poverty already found on the new continent. 
At a late visit to one of our good neighbors, wooden 
trenchers, wooden platters, wooden spoons and wooden 
forks formed the table service; and this is so common 
that no one less relished the hospitable meal. A pew- 
ter service is a luxury afforded by the better classes 
alone. 

From our host we learn that the Eastern Shore of 
Virginia, to the south of us, contains a population of 
one thousand whites ; that it had one hundred English 
settlers within its bounds as long ago as 1620. He 
read to us Master John Pory's interesting account of 
his expedition during that year to visit the plantations 
on the lower peninsula, and of his meeting Kiptopeke, 
" the laughing king of Accowmake." This king was 
kind and hospitable, the one named characteristic par- 
ticularly notable, inasmuch as the Indians even smile 
but seldom. He tells them that on this narrow strip 
of country " inhabit many people ; so that by the 
narrowness of the land there is not many deare, but 
most abundant of fish and fowle." We were also 
told of another chief, Kickotanke, who in 1649 cared 



44 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1681. 

for, and conducted to safety on the mainland, Colonel 
Norwood and his crew, who had been cast away on 
one of the islands on the coast. At the time of 
Smith's expeditions he speaks of two tribes occupying 
the country — the Occohannocks and the Accomacks, 
the former with forty warriors, the latter with eighty. 
They are described as fine-looking men, the subjects 
of Powhatan, speaking his language and numbering 
two thousand. Their " werowance," or chief, he rep- 
resents to be the " comeliest proper civill salvage we 
incountered." 

Naomi and I have turned philosophers, theorizing 
upon the problem whether there is not something in 
this genial atmosphere to beget civility and hospitality 
even in a savage, and are wondering who will be the 
laughing kings of Accomack two hundred years 
hence. 

There seem to be considerable pride of wealth, high 
social position of the gentry, and the maintenance of 
all the formal courtesies of the day. I hear already 
of a number of prominent families — Scarborough, 
Robins, Littleton, West, Wise, Middleton, Custis, 
Ratclifife, Poulson, Bowman, Jenifer, Corbin, Drum- 
mond, Upshur, Finney, Taylor, Tully Robinson, An- 
drew Hamilton and others. Of many of these Mr. 
Anderson speaks highly. 

The early title of the colony was that of Virginia 
and Accomack. Accowmake was one of the original 
shires of 1634 and retained the old Indian name until 
1642, when, to please the Robins family, who came 
from Northamptonshire, England, it was changed to 
*' Northampton." Afterward, in 1662, the county was 
divided into two, the upper one taking back the for- 



A. D. 1681.] THE DAYS OF MAKE MI E. 45 

mer name of " Accomack," although the ancient 
Indian town of that name was on the southern end 
of the peninsula. 

The first settlements and the first churches were in 
what is now the lower county. Rev. Robert Bolton 
became their minister before the year 1623. During 
that year Governor Wyatt ordered ** that Mr. Bolton 
shall receive for his salary this year, throughout all 
the plantations at the Eastern Shore, ten pounds of 
tobacco and one bushel of corn for every planter and 
tradesman above the age of sixteen years alive at the 
crop." Bolton was followed by William Cotton. In 
1642 the parish was divided into two — Hungar's and 
Nuswattocks — and since then the following clergymen 
have officiated in one or the other : John Rogers, 
Thomas Higby, Francis Doughty, Thomas Palmer, 
John Almoner, a Mr. Richardson, a Mr. Key and 
Thomas Teackle. The latter is still living. He 
came to Virginia in 1656 and has had his home at 
Cradock. He is a man of culture and owns a large 
and valuable library. Accomack has two parishes 
— Accomack and St. George's. 

The population is mostly of the Established Church. 
Soon after the year 1650 the Quakers appeared on the 
Shore, made some converts and built themselves a log 
meeting-house ten feet square. Some of them were 
accused of slandering the clergy, of defying the laws 
and of blasphemy ; were arrested and banished. The 
judicial records show evidence against them of deny- 
ing the incarnation of Christ, and of some of them 
speaking of God as " a foolish old man." It must be 
admitted that among this peculiar people there are 
those, illiterate and fanatical, who are entirely too 



46 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1681. 

abusive of all that differ with them, seeming to take 
delight in shocking the religious sensibilities of others 
and in virtually inviting persecution. The Quakers 
are now seldom molested, some of them highly re- 
spected, neither disturbing others nor being disturbed. 
Among these are Mr. Thomas Browne and wife, liv- 
ing at the family-seat, called *' Brownsville," on the 
seashore, and enjoying the honor of having it placed 
on record that, "although Quakers, they are yet of 
such known integrity that their affirmation is received 
instead of an oath." 

The reign of Episcopacy upon this seagirt shore 
has not been without its internal tempests. The court 
records are full of suits by the clergy against their 
vestry for the tithes. In 1633, Henry Charlton called 
the Rev. Mr. Cotton " a black-coated rascal," and the 
court ordered that the traducer of the cloth " make a 
pair of stocks and sit in them several Sabbath days 
during divine service, and then ask Mr. Cotton's for- 
giveness." On the other hand, in 1652, Rev. Mr. 
Higby is presented to court charged with slanders 
against Major Robins. In 1664, Major Robins obtains 
judgment against a woman for scandalous speeches 
about Rev. Mr. Teackle, and she is condemned to re- 
ceive twenty lashes on her bare shoulders and be ban- 
ished from the county. Then, again, Colonel Scarbor- 
ough, one of high position socially and in the church, 
has not hesitated to assail the moral character of Mr. 
Teackle. Dominating over others, the Church has 
not been able to keep the peace within its own 
fold (15). 

Meanwhile, the few Presbyterians are shepherdless 
and too weak to arouse jealousy. Here and there a 



A. D. 1 68 1.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 47 

true heart is found patiently awaiting the hour when 
the Church of its love may plant its own vine and fig 
tree in this lovely clime and raise its voice for truth 
and holiness. 

Another conversation which occurred during this 
visit interested us exceedingly. A gentleman lately 
from the North of Ireland came in with Mr. Anderson 
from the store and took supper with us. My father 
soon inquired about God's saints in Ulster. 

Our informant tells us that the treatment of the 
Presbyterians is becoming almost intolerable. The 
soldiers of Laggan — a district of country lying be- 
tween Lough Foyle and Lough Swilly and along their 
tributaries — refused to take the hated oath of suprem- 
acy (the supremacy of the king over religion and 
conscience), and the ministers have been accused of 
encouraging them. The resistance in Scotland, result- 
ing in the battle of Bothwell Bridge, two years ago, 
having aroused in the government fears of similar 
movements in Ulster, the prelates seized upon this 
opportunity for deepening these fears to the injury of 
our Church. The air is full of accusations of disloy- 
alty and rebellion. When the king is disposed to re- 
lax and the civil authorities tire of severity, the bish- 
ops and their tools arouse constantly to new devices 
of oppression. 

Said the gentleman, 

" One word uttered or the least sympathy suspected 
in behalf of civil or religious liberty is a crime. The 
bishops are Charles Stuarts in gowns. Ulster's noble 
witnesses for the truth have borne almost everything, 
but sometimes it looks as if they must be crushed and 
the cause go down." 



48 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1681. 

" Never !" said my father. " When the present suf- 
ferers shall fade and fail, other witnesses will be raised 
up to grasp the Bible and hold aloft God's ban- 
ner." 

The fields and forests of Accomack seemed to take 
up the loud " Never !" and send it echoing to the 
stars. 

Noticing my father's prophecy, our informant said, 

" So severe are the hardships of our ministry — in- 
digent, pursued, harassed — that one might reasonably 
expect a dearth of candidates for positions which 
bring constant exposure to want and wrong; yet 
during these very two years of darkening persecution 
I have been looking in upon the meetings of the Pres- 
bytery of Laggan in my native place of St. JohnstOwn, 
a little village on Lough Foyle, five miles south of 
Londonderry, and I have seen two young men delib- 
erately facing the clouded future, challenging its dan- 
gers and preparing themselves to share hard toil and 
jeopardy with those now in the midst of the fires. 

" One of these I especially noted. On the 28th of 
January last year (1680) he appeared upon the floor and 
asked to be received under care of Presbytery as a pro- 
bationer for the gospel ministry. On inquiry, I learned 
that the blue-eyed, brown-haired youth was born of 
Scotch lineage in county Donegal and was a graduate 
of the University of Glasgow. In native talent and by 
culture he seemed fitted for eminence in any of the 
learned professions. Nor was he ignorant of the dan- 
gers he was challenging. While yet a lad playing upon 
the hill which slopes from his childhood's home down 
to the eastern margin of Lough Swilly, or strolling 
with his brothers John and Robert or hand in hand 



A. D, 1 68 1. J THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 49 

with his younger sister, Anne, to enjoy their diversions 
around the old water-mill at Ramelton, or to look upon 
the ancient castle scarred by the Catholic fires of 1641, 
or to wander in childish dread over tow^ard the castle 
of Ramullan, where the bishop of Raphoe lived in 
princely state, — the boy's heart was already stirred by 
stories of the hardships of God's heroic ministry, the 
noble sixty-one of the province of Ulster, thirteen of 
them of this brave Presbytery of Laggan, who in 1661 
refused to enslave their consciences to the demands of 
the tyrant Church, were ejected from their places, for- 
bidden to baptize or preach and driven forth from 
their livings to penury and want. One of these was 
the boy's own pastor, Thomas Drummond, expelled 
from 1/3 pulpit, the true gospel prohibited in Ramel- 
ton. The lad had witnessed the flames in which the 
Solemn League and Covenant w^as burned that sum- 
mer by act of Parliament in all the cities and towns 
through the kingdom (16). 

"In the year 1664, still but a stripling, he had known 
of the excommunication, arrest and imprisonment of 
four ministers by the persecuting bishop Leslie of 
Raphoe, son of the persecuting bishop of Down. 
Inheriting the spirit of an ecclesiastical despot, this 
primate of Raphoe, a gourmand and a drunkard so 
bloated that he could not walk under his own weight 
unsupported, kept the four godly men John Hart, 
William Semple, Adam White and the boy's pastor 
Drummond in confinement at Lifford for six dreary 
years, only released at last, against the bishop's wish, 
by the king's positive command. 

" Somewhere in the midst of these stormy events, 
while the enemies of the cross were trying to suppress 
4 



50 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1681. 

the gospel work, the Master put it into the heart of a 
pious schoolmaster to talk to the lad about the love 
of Jesus, and won him to Christ at fifteen years of 
age. Who can predict the results of that early con- 
version ? 

" In the year 1675 the young man left the banks of 
the Swilly for the banks of the Clyde, and at Glasgow 
his university studies were pursued among scenes even 
more sad and terrible. That year he saw garrisons 
placed all over the land in the houses of Presbyterians 
for the suppression of God's worship in the fields and 
everywhere, the praises of Jesus interdicted alike in 
■ our churches and on moor and mountain. Next he 
saw issued the order forbidding all persons, under 
severest penalties, to supply the necessaries of life to 
the proscribed or to hold any communication with 
them — even fathers and mothers or wives or husbands 
to be treated as felons and traitors if they gave food 
or shelter or a word of comfort to any loved one 
under the ban of the oppressor. As long as he re- 
mained he saw these barbarities increasing in vir- 
ulence, until finally, the English garrisons not brutal 
enough, the half-civilized marauders of the Highlands 
were let loose upon their defenceless victims and 
Scotia's streams ran blood. 

" Yes, the young man knew perfectly well what he 
was braving when last year, with Dalziel and Claver- 
house still raging across the Channel and the hand of 
tyranny stretched out over Donegal, he stood before 
Presbytery vouched for by the old veteran Drummond. 
This hero of the days of the ejectment, the unyielding 
prisoner of six years, would hardly have vouched for 
this youthful probationer if he had not known him to 



A. D. i68i.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 51 

be fitted for troublous times. We all felt this while 
we saw these brave sufferers of the past sitting around 
him, and heard his application to be received as a can- 
didate for the office which . would bring with it the 
hatred of mighty and heartless men. 

" Solemnly he answered the questions as to his 
personal reliance from boyhood upon that saving 
blood which he hopes to preach to others. Satisfying 
themselves that the constraining love of Christ was 
the power that caused him to face the solemnities of 
the sacred calling, they appointed Mr. Robert Rule 
of Derry and Mr. John Hart of Taboyn — another 
of the Lifford prisoners— to confer with the candidate 
with regard to his attainments and studies. As a 
spectator of all there occurring, I was naturally more 
interested in his appearance and conduct than you can 
possibly be these thousands of miles away." 

The company urged him to go on. In these Western 
wilds we get hungry for news, and there are few pleas- 
anter hours than when we meet with a good talker 
from the old country. Naomi and Comfort were 
listening as intently as the oldest. 

•' I will prophesy," continued our informant, " that 
he will make his mark upon the world. He has good 
natural parts, zeal, piety, courage, and the Presbytery 
is doing all it can to develop what is in him. I 
attended six or seven more of their meetings at St. 
Johnstown, continuing at intervals until May of the 
present year, and have witnessed their persistent care 
to ground him thoroughly in our doctrines and make 
him a workman that needeth not to be ashamed. Com- 
mittees frequently appointed to examine and encourage 
and superintend his studies reported that he was 



52 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1681. " 

diligent Even after the committee was ready to 
recommend him for trial, he was not himself satis- 
fied, setting his standard higher and asking for more 
time. 

" On the continued ' good report ' made to the Pres- 
bytery, they assigned him as the text for a trial sermon 
I Tim. I. 5: 'Now the end of the commandment is 
charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience 
and of faith unfeigned ' — an excellent text for these 
uncharitable days. On the 25th of this past April 
(168 1) we heard him preach upon it, the discourse in 
treatment and manner meeting the approval of his 
brethren and giving promise of no ordinary pulpit 
power in the days to come. Another sermon was 
assigned, on the sweet invitation, * Come unto me, all 
ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you 
rest' Last May, the 25th, we heard him tell of the 
yearnings of the heart of Jesus in that beautiful text. 
It was pleasant to think of his going forth to talk 
upon such themes to the tried ones of the Redeemer's 
kingdom. In these two texts — characteristic of those 
who assigned them and creditable to him who so 
treated them as to secure the approval of such Presby- 
ters — the keynote of a blessed ministry was seemingly 
struck. 

"On the 29th of last December (1680) there came 
an interesting communication to the Presbytery from 
America, from your neighboring province. It con- 
tained a statement of the spiritual destitution existing 
in these regions and an urgent plea for a godly min- 
ister. The sympathies of those good men were drawn 
out to their countrymen yearning in distant climes for 
the word of life. Mr, Hart was instructed to write to 



A. D.I 68 1.] THE DAYS OF MAKE M IE. 53 

the Rev. William Keyes of Belfast about the matter ; 
Mr. Rule, to correspond with the Presbyteries of Route 
and Tyrone ; and Mr. William Trail, to correspond 
with the Presbyteries of Down and Antrim. Such an 
interest did the appeal of your fellow-citizen Colonel 
William Stevens awaken that day at St. Johnstown." 

This, then, was the letter, freighted with so many 
hopes and prayers, which had taken flight from the 
banks of our own little Pocomoke, borne on under 
the ordination of the Almighty. 

" To that letter I noticed our young candidate lis- 
tening attentively. Was there a new depth in his blue 
eyes and a new thoughtfulness upon his fine brow ? I 
could not help thinking what substantial material there 
was in this young man himself for a missionary. 

" The ' common-head ' assigned the candidate was 
very suggestiv^e, ' De Antichristo ' — * concerning the 
Antichrist.' For illustrations of his subject he need 
not go far. At this very day is not the civil power 
claiming to sit in the temple of God as God, usurping 
the crown-rights of Jesus and denying that he is the 
supreme Ruler in his own Church ? The meeting of 
May 25th of the present year was to be the last that 
could be openly attended. Before the time came to 
present the ' common-head ' the leading ministers 
were so pursued and harassed that there could be 
no more public meetings of the Presbytery. Four 
of its members were subjected to arrest after arrest, 
until sentence was finally secured against them from a 
packed jury, and they are now suffering imprisonment 
at Lifford at the will of their oppressors. 

"Against one of these, Mr. William Trail, there 
seems to be an especial hatred — perhaps because of 



54 THE DAYS OF MA K EM IE. [A. D. 1681. 

his being an influential member of Presbytery and its 
clerk, and because of his faithfully visiting the incar- 
cerated soldiers who had refused to take the oath of 
supremacy. He is a Scotchman born, not likely to 
forget that he is a fellow-countryman of John Knox. 

" Our young Donegal friend is pressing his studies 
and awaiting ordination at the hands of his brethren. 
The youth who hears and obeys the call of God in 
the face of such obstacles must be starting in life at an 
elevation above all that is little or mean or cowardly," 

" Certainly, certainly !" replied our host. '* I will 
answer for such a man in the day of trial !" 

That night, after I thought my bedfellow sleeping, 
Naomi said, 

" Was not that a noble young man ?" And again, 
after a while, " I wonder what is the young minister's 
name?" (17). 



CHAPTER III. 
A. D. 1682. 

" The World was involved in such a Labyrinth of Darkness and 
Corruption, man would not have known, without the Bible, what was 
to be done." — Makemie, 

AS early as 1658 a few patents of land had been 
granted along the Pocomoke, and a few white 
adventurers were to be found at points here and there. 
In 1 66 1, in answer to a petition from the outlawed 
Quakers in Accomack, Governor Calvert issued a 
commission to Colonel Edmund Scarborough, Randal 
Revell and John Elzey to grant lands to as many as 
wished to settle on the lower Eastern Shore of Mary- 
land.* Revell himself soon made his home in what 
was therefore called " Revell's Neck," and Elzey on 
the Monokin, most of the Quakers from below remov- 
ing into the country around. In May, 1662, Revell 
reports to the governor that fifty tithable persons are 
settled on the Monokin and Annamessex. Here the 
followers of George Fox have never been disturbed 
except by the Virginia raider, Scarborough himself 
During the year 1657, Lord Baltimore had declared 
that he " would never give his assent to the repeal of 
the law established in Maryland whereby all persons 
professing to believe in Jesus Christ have freedom of 

* Report of Commission on Boundary of Virginia and Maryland, 

1873, p. 23- 

55 



56 THE DA YS OF MA REM IE. [A. D. 1682. 

conscience there," and in that very year this strange 
sect appeared on the Western Shore with their women- 
preachers, EHzabeth Harris and others. Their refusal 
to take the oath of fideHty, and their apparently con- 
temptuous persistence in wearing their hats in the 
presence of the courts, were naturally construed into 
political disloyalty rather than religious scruples. 
The rash tongues of indiscreet zealots often confirmed 
these damaging impressions. Many still say that they 
would not defend the province against an invader, but 
would feel in conscience bound to supply provisions to 
public enemies.* Such declarations were easily mis- 
understood. The accusations against these people on 
the Accomack records, and on the Western Shore of 
our own province, were not so much on account of 
their religious theories as for contempt of the civil 
law. For a while Maryland began to arrest and whip 
and banish. In 1660 there was published in London 
a complaint from one of them, saying, " The Indians 
whom they judged to be brethren exceeded in kind- 
ness, in courtesies, in love and mercy unto them who 
were strangers; which is a shame to the mad, rash 
rulers of Mariland who have acted so barbarously to 
our people." f 

As soon as it became apparent that the Quakers 
meant no disloyalty, and that their peculiarities were 
harmless, the Western Shore oppressions ceased. In 
1666, George Alsop said, "Quakerism is the only 
opinion that bears the bell away." During the past 
twenty years they have been by far the most zealous 
and active of all the Protestants in the province, itin- 

■^ Bishop Meade's Old C/mrckes, i. 427. 
fNciU's FomiJns of Araryland, p. 131. 



A. D. 1 682.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 57 

erants of both sexes frequently passing through the 
settlements and heard by nearly all the people. 

The only time these settlers of our own county were 
ever molested was from Accomack in 1663, and then 
not for their religion. The occupation of this territory 
having been effected by encouraging immigration from 
the Virginia counties, the dashing Colonel Scarborough 
now laid claim to it in the name of his own province 
and with about forty horsemen proceeded to estab- 
lish her authority over its inhabitants. His progress 
through the fields of the Annamessex and the Mono- 
kin was that of a haughty, domineering Cavalier, ar- 
resting, threatening, denouncing and proscribing, by 
the ** broad arrow " marked upon their doors, all who 
would not submit. The Quakers refused to swerve 
from their allegiance to Lord Baltimore. The gov- 
ernor of Virginia disowned these high-handed meas- 
ures, and in 1668 a "divisional line " was arranged, 
leaving these lands under the jurisdiction of Maryland. 
Henceforth the Quakers were free.* 

Suddenly, in 1672, their great apostle, George Fox, 
landed on the banks of the Patuxent and began to 
preach. In December he left the Cliffs of Calvert and 
crossed the great bay. It was the same year that the 
grand jury, interpreting the cry of the wilderness for 
the Gospel, had called out Mr. Maddux to preach at 
four points in the county. Now this famous Quaker 
revivalist, this weird, wild, anomalous mystic of the 
century, goes thundering through our own Eastern 
Shore settlements. Of course he strikes for the Re- 
hoboth plantation, one of the chief centres, with its 
motto, " Room for All." There the leading men of 

* Accomack records, 1663; Scarborough's report. 



58 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1682. 

both whites and Indians, with many others, congre- 
gated to hear him. With the hearty consent of the 
owner of the grounds, he estabhshed a general month- 
ly meeting for the whole county. The lips of the peo- 
ple are full of reminiscences of the wonderful man — 
how woods and streams rang with his appeals ten years 
ago, his denunciations of ritualism, his laudations of 
the mysterious Inner Light. 

Our friend Colonel Stevens has been describing the 
scene. He says : 

" I imagine I hear him still. That day the house 
and yard were crowded with people flocking after him 
from the whole country around. If Paul or John the 
Baptist had reappeared, the excitement in the province 
could not have been greater. Fox's followers believed 
him certainly under the inspiration of Heaven; and 
when he came through these forests and swamps, 
def^'ing the wild beasts and the rigors of winter, they 
looked and listened with awe almost idolatrous. He 
who had faced the power of England and never fal- 
tered, wearing that strange hat in the presence of his 
angry judges, triumphing in spirit in a dozen prisons, 
seeing visions, casting out devils, receiving revelations 
from the eternal throne, arousing thousands of disci- 
ples to the wildest zeal, — here he was, in all his mar- 
velous fascination, in my own house and on the banks 
of our little river. The plantations poured out their 
inhabitants to see. His fellow-zealots regarded him 
with reverence, the ignorant with superstitious awe, 
all of us with intense curiosity. 

" There at my door he stood in his leather breeches 
and preached to the eager auditors. That indescrib- 
able face, those unearthly, tremulous intonations, the 



A. D. 1682.] THE DA YS OF MA REM IE. 59 

abrupt, broken, inverted, almost unintelligible sen- 
tences, the terrific earnestness while his body shook 
and quaked, quivering like an aspen-leaf, produced an 
impression not soon to be forgotten. The literal in 
the Scriptures was spiritualized into the most unex- 
pected meanings, the figurative interpreted literally. 
Old beliefs were thrown scornfully away; new con- 
structions were forced upon the Bible at every point. 
Scathing invectives were hurled at the learned and the 
powerful, while the Inner Light and the privilege of 
immediate fellowship with almighty God were held 
forth as possible glories to the poorest and meanest. 
Analyzed afterward, many of his utterances were the 
veriest jargon, but his not being understood seemed to 
increase his power over his hearers.* 

" Yonder sat the old Indian emperor with his dusky 
group, the dark upturned faces of these sons of our 
forests adding to the impressiveness of the scene. In 
the wild oratory of the preacher there seemed some- 
thing near akin to the weird chants of their own med- 
icine-men" (18). 

. Matchacoopah remembers the great day when the 
emperor came home escorting the wonderful teacher 
up the river. A boy then, he sat among his people 
beneath the trees and listened to the awful voice, 
while the interpreter took his words and turned them 
into meaning. 

'' He came talking out of the sea," says Matcha- 
coopah, "and went talking back into the sea. His 
voice was the voice of the night-wind when it shrieks 
and wails among the cypresses along the river-shore." 

I grow constantly more interested in the natives of 

■5«- Macaulay, iv. 19. 



6o THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1682. 

the wilds. Who are they? Whence came they? 
What shall be their destiny? 

These thoughts are inspired by an event with which 
the opening of the present year has been crowned. 
We had heard how the daughter of Powhatan — 
the " Little Wanton," as her father called her — was 
instructed in the Scriptures, embraced Christianity, 
was baptized and married John Rolf sixty-nine years 
ago. Forty-two years ago, in our own province, at 
his capital, Kittamaquindi, a chief named Tayac and 
his wife and daughter were baptized by the zealous 
Father White, the chief declaring that he regarded 
above every other benefit the true knowledge of the 
one God.* Now, on the 25th of January, we have 
had a baptism on our own shore. An Indian by the 
name of Poocum has been for some while attending the 
ministrations of our Church of England clergyman. Rev. 
John Hewett. Mr. Hewett has been preaching in the 
county, living on the Wicomico. After instruction in the 
principles of our religion, the baptismal rite was adminis- 
tered to the young man in the 'name of the Holy Trinity. 
The Indian took the Christian name of the minister. 

Now follows another sensation — one quite romantic. 
Rumors of a matrimonial alliance between the blood 
of England and the blood of the Nanticokes pass from 
neighborhood to neighborhood. The black eyes of 
the Christianized savage have dwelt in love upon 
the pale-faced daughter of Europe, and she has 
not repelled him. She cannot marry a pagan : 
the Church could not solemnize such a marriage; but 
now that barrier is removed, and only a month elapses 
when, on the 25th of February, Mr. Hewett performs 

'^ Annuls of Annapolis ; McSheny's iVaryland, p. 49. 



A. D. i682.] THE DAYS OF MAKE A/IE. 6 1 

another ceremony, mating together the Christian Nan- 
ticoke and the wiUing bride, Miss Jane Johnson. 
Henceforth the Indians of the Eastern Shore and 
the colonists from across the sea have their wedded 
representatives in the same forest-cabin, where white 
hands prepare for the original proprietor of the soil 
his own pone and hominy.* 

This reminds me of a discovery I have lately made. 
Somewhere on the green fields of Derry there is one 
who writes pretty verses to the smiling Peggy, my 
warm-hearted maid of Ulster. In the last letter re- 
ceived from him there were some things not requiring 
secrecy, and I transcribe them. The writer says: 

On the 2d of April I was in Burt, and went up to Mr. Wil- 
liam Hempton's church. In the pulpit was a young man who 
would have attracted attention anywhere. Under his clear utter- 
ances you felt that there was in him a wonderful reserve of force 
and will-power. His text was the third verse of the thirteenth 
chapter of Luke : " I tell you, Nay, but except ye repent, ye shall 
all likewise perish." In the afternoon I returned to hear him 
again ; his text and theme were the same. The call to repent- 
ance, with which both John the Baptist and the Saviour hirnself had 
entered upon their public ministry, was now sounded aloud at 
the beginning of his. Such is the preaching which the prelates 
of Ireland would keep from the ears of the people. 

The young minister's training has been thorough, the Presby- 
tery using the utmost circumspection "that in the worst of times 
able and fruitful ministers may be continued amongst us," and 
requiring " distinct and positive answers to the questions usually 
proposed for showing soundness in the faith and adhering to the 
truth professed in the Reformed Churches against Popery, Ar- 
minianism, Prelacy, Erastianism, Independency, and whatsoever 
else is contrary to sound doctrine and the power .of godliness, and 
a resolution to adhere to the Covenant." I give the very words 
of the rules of the Presbyteries. Now, in the face of the man- 
ifold dangers surrounding the perilous office, he was standing 

* Somerset records ; the name is there spelled " Puckam." People of 
that name, evidently of Indian blood, are still in the county. 



62 THE DAYS OF MAKE MI E. [A. D. 1682. 

boldly forth crying to the nation, "Repent!" The name of the 
young man is Makemie. There is some talk of his going 
abroad and carrying the gospel to foreign parts.* 

From other sources of information we know that at 
the very time the young licentiate was preaching at 
Burt, but a little distance away, at Lifford, the Rev. 
William Trail, pastor of the latter church, the Rev. 
James Alexander of Raphoe, the Rev. Robert Campbell 
of Ray and the Rev. John Hart of Taughboyne were 
lying in confinement. These were the men who had 
helped to train the youthful preacher. On the 3d of 
last May (168 1) they had been summoned before 
the magistrates at Raphoe under charge of holding a 
fast at the beginning of the year and recommending 
it to the people. 

Presiding over the assizes was Sir William Steward 
of Ramelton, Makemie's own townsman, an unworthy 
son of a noble Presbyterian father and grandfather, 
both brave soldiers of the Covenant. The grandfather 
had planted the Scotch colony at Ramelton as long 
ago as 1 6 10, three years after the settlement of James- 
town, in Virginia, and the family have been staunch 
and true to their hereditary faith, until now this degen- 
erate scion has renounced the principles of his ancestry 
and leagued himself with the persecutor for reward. 

The keeping of the fast and the authorship of the 
reasons assigned, were promptly admitted by the four 
ministers. The magistrates seemed to have been 
ashamed to convict upon so foolish a charge, and 
the brethren were discharged for the time. It was 
only to be pursued in another form. In a month 

*Rei(l, ii. 567, 570, 342. The sermon at Burt and its date— the last 
mention of Makemie in Ireland. 



A. D. 1682.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 63 

they were cited to appear before the lord lieutenant 
and council at Dublin. There, in the castle, two of 
these ministers were questioned separately and closely 
upon the charges. There are good reasons why I tran- 
scribe some parts of the examination of one of them : 

"Are you Mr. Trail?" said the duke of Ormond, present lord 
lieutenant. 
" Yes." 

Here one of the counsel said to him, 

" Be not afraid, be not surprised." 

" I am not, for why should I ?" was the answer. 

In the presence of the great of earth there was no 
tremor. 

"Were you at that meeting at St. Johnstown when the causes 
of your late fast were drawn up ?" 

"Yes." 

" Who was with you there ?" 

" I am not free to declare that. I confess my own accession 
to it, but I am not clear to tell of others, to bring them into 
trouble." 

"What do you mean in these causes of your fast," said the 
lord chancellor, "by apostasy and perjury and breach of our 
solemn covenants and vows ?" 

" The breach of all our lawful vows and covenants, which are 
many ; for we came under vows and covenants at baptism and 
at our partaking of the Lord's Supper, and upon other occasions." 

" Whom do you mean by the Antichristian party ?" 

" By the Antichristian party we mean the Popish party." 

" But do you mean none other but only the Popish party by 
the Antichristian party ?" 

Here Mr. Trail remained silent — that silence more 
eloquent than words. 

" Did you ever take the oath of supremacy ?" 

" No ; I was never put to it." 

" But will you now take it ?" 

" I am not free to take it. I acknowledge that it is capable of 



64 rim da ys of makemie. [a. d. 1682. 

a sound sense, and that there is a sound sense put upon it by 
law." 

" Why, then, do you not take it?" 

" Because I think it were a jugghng with the king, and much 
more with God, to take an oath that is capable of a sound sense, 
and yet to keep that sound sense in my mind." 

During an interval, while they were examining 
papers, Mr. Trail said, 

" I hope Your Grace and this honorable board will pardon and 
excuse my freedom and boldness in speaking if I speak not with 
that reverence and respect that is due ?" 

The lord lieutenant answered, smiling, 

" I like you very well, Mr. Trail ; you may speak what you 
please." 

His perfect candor and manly bearing had made an 
impression. 

" How long is it since you came to Ireland ?" 

" Ten years." * 

"As to the nature of a fast," said Mr. Trail, " we do not make 
the time holy when we keep a fast, but the day is our own when 
the fast is over. It is not so on the Lord's day, for that is holy." 

" It is even so on the Lord's day, and is all one," said the 
archbishop. " The time is no more holy upon the Lord's day 
than upon a fast-day." 

" If this were a fit place for dispute, I would endeavor to prove 
the contrary," was the answer. 

Neither in Dublin Castle nor anywhere else, before 
prince nor primate, would this Ulster Presbyterian 
admit that human forms and appointments stand upon 
the same footing with the divine. 

Lord Lanesborough said, 

* Mr. Trail was not quite forty years old. Born in Scotland in 1642; 
laureated at Edinburgh University in 1658; licensed to preach in 1670, 
in London; went to Ireland in 1671, and was ordained at Lifford in 
1672. He is the eldest son of Rev. Robert Trail of Edinburgh, and 
had a younger brotlier, Robert, undergoing persecution also. 



A. D. 1 682. J THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 65 

•' Would you take it if they would give you a good benefice ?" 
" No, My Lord ; I have not said that yet. I am content to be 
as I am without that." 

This feeling of contentment and independence was 
maintained upon a salary of twenty-one pounds a year. 
He was not to be bought. 

Again the archbishop : 

" Do you use to ride through the country with arms, swords 
and pistols?" 

Trail answered, smiling, 

" I came to Dublin without a sword. There is neither sword nor 
gun about my house. I think I am one of the greatest cowards 
in His Majesty's dominions, and that they are all fools that fight." 

In reporting this examination Mr. Trail explains by 
telling us that he could never look upon blood, neither 
his own nor that of others, without falling into a swoon 
at the sight. Yet this is the man, constitutionally 
timid, whose inflexible moral bravery will not yield 
one hair's-breadth to the oppressor, and now stands 
unabashed, playing pleasant humor in the presence 
of his judges ! 

When leaving the room, he said, 

" I would entreat this honorable board to believe that we are 
loyal subjects." 

Lord Lanesborough replied, 

" I beheve that of you, Mr. Trail." 

Yet these four ministers were bound over, at their 
cost and on bail, to appear for trial before the assizes 
at Lifford ! An indictment was found, and they were 
tried before a packed jury of Trail's own neighbors 
who were anxious to close his lips. Of course the 
verdict was "Guilty." The sentence was a fine of 
5 



66 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1682. 

twenty pounds and security not to offend again, or to 
go to jail. Determined by no act of theirs to admit 
the legality of the sentence, on the nth of August 
last year (1681) they went to prison for Christ's sake. 

People assembling to listen to the word of life from 
the lips of the prisoners were often driven away by the 
authorities. 

For over eight months these men remained in duress, 
until, on the 20th of April of this year, they have at 
length been released by act of the sheriff. 

Balked for the time in their triumph, Mr. Trail's 
enemies have been venting their spite in an act of 
childish malice. On the 29th of May following his 
release, a mob of drunken gentry and justices of the 
peace worked themselves into such a passion that they 
made an effigy of the good minister and burned it in 
a great public anto-da-fc. Side by side with the ef- 
figy of the Presbyterian clergyman they burned one 
of the earl of Shaftsbury, the leader of the popular 
party in England and the author of the famous Ha- 
beas Corpus Act passed three years ago. Did they 
mean that Prelacy would gladly destroy Presbyterian- 
ism and the liberties of the people in the same fires ?* 

The successful prosecution of Mr. Trail and his 
friends has encouraged the enemies of our cause. The 
verdict which declared it illegal for the Presbytery to 
enjoin a fast means that it is a crime for them to per- 
form any other function of an ecclesiastical court. 

Looking across the Channel to the Mother-Church 
in Scotland, they see their friends in even a worse 

* Reid, ii. 338, etc., 574, etc. Other facts about Mr. Trail I get 
from Dr. Robert Anderson of Glasgow and Prof. Witherow of Lon- 
donderry. 



A. D. 1682.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 67 

condition. Sycophantic prelates are applauding the 
cruel Duke of York for his rancor " against the most 
unreasonable schism ;" and he, on leaving for England, 
advises more violent measures against the Presbyteri- 
ans and declares that ** Scotland will never be at peace 
till the whole country south of the Forth is turned 
into a hunting-field." The curates lend themselves 
zealously to the work, supplying the military murder- 
ers with lists of victims. Observance of family wor- 
ship is conclusive evidence of Presbyterianism and 
treason. Hume of Hume, a gentleman of high 
standing, is accused, condemned without proof and 
executed, a full pardon from London reaching the 
authorities two days before, but kept concealed.* 

Meanwhile, an event of some importance to us takes 
place in England. The Quaker William Penn, son of 
an admiral, secured from King Charles, on the 5th of 
March last year, the grant of a large tract of land to 
the north of us. The name first selected was " New 
Wales," then " Sylvania," to which the king has pre- 
fixed the name of the grantee, making it " Pennsyl- 
vania." On the 27th of October of the present year 
Penn arrives and lands at New Castle from the ship 
Welcome, bringing the small-pox with him. Farther 
up, at a place called '' Wicacoa," at the junction of two 
rivers, on three hundred and sixty acres obtained from 
three Swede brothers Swaenson,t a city called " Phil- 
adelphia " has just been laid out, with boundaries large 
enough to accommodate many people. 

The Quakers around us are elated at this new 
movement, for they know that the Proprietor has in- 

* Macaulay. Knight, Wodrow, passim. 
f Acrelius, Hist. New Sweden, p. ill. 



6S THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1682. 

fluence at the English court. Much is said of his 
fairness in deahng with the Indians, but it is a fact, 
about which there has been no boasting, that our 
own province is nearly a half century ahead of Penn 
in setting the example. At St. Mary's no land was 
taken but was paid for, and the pleasantest relations 
of amity were established between the two races. The 
village of Yowacomaco was sold to the whites and 
became their capital, and there the English and In- 
dians lived side by side in the rude huts constructed 
by savage hands, the one teaching the art of hunting 
the deer and planting the maize and preparing the suc- 
cotash and hominy, the other teaching the lessons of 
civilized life and religion.* 

Twenty years ago, when the commissioners were 
bringing settlers to this county from Virginia, a treaty 
of amity was formed with the emperor of the Nanti- 
cokes, and that treaty has never been infringed. The 
Indians have been protected in their rights by our 
county officials; and if molested by the whites, the 
red men have a fair hearing before our courts, and 
their wrongs are carefully redressed. f Peace and justice 
to the children of the wilderness reigned by the Poco- 
moke through twenty uninterrupted years before Penn 
but the other day made his noted treaty under the 
shade of the elm on the banks of the Delaware. 

In the year 1669 an act of Assembly owns the 
Indians on the Choptank as " our neighbors and 
confederates" and confirms to them a strip of land 
three miles wide along its south bank. When, in 
1675, Major Trueman and his troops executed certain 

* Annals of Annapolis ; McSherry's Maryland, p. 36. 
f McMahon, p. 19 ; Somerset records. 



A. D. 1682.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE, 69 

Indian chiefs on the Western Shore in retahation for 
murders committed upon the whites, the province was 
shocked and demands were made for his punishment. 
The next year our own Colonel Stevens, who had lived 
here on friendly terms with our Indians so long, was 
appointed by the Lower House one of the committee 
to conduct the impeachment of Trueman.* 

In December of this year our Proprietary and Mr. 
Penn met to confer about the pending difficulties con- 
cerning boundary-lines. Our colonists fear that our 
Quaker neighbor, where his personal interests are at 
stake, is not disposed to deal so fairly by his white 
rival as he claims to have done toward his copper- 
colored brethren. Colonel Stevens was present at 
the conference, and he and others testify that " Mr. 
Penn declared in a very florid manner his real and 
hearty inclination to maintain and keep a neighborly 
and friendly correspondence with His Lordship," but, 
notwithstanding his many professions, they believe 
that he is bent upon getting all the territory from 
Maryland he canf (19). 

Still we yearn and wait upon our Shore for the 
coming of the true gospel. Now and then there are 
rumors of the probability of securing a minister ; then, 
again, the hope dies away. Forty-six years ago (1636) 
Livingston, Plamilton, Blair, McClelland and their 
friends set sail in the Eagle Wing from Loch Fergus 
for America, but were driven back by adverse winds 
to new persecutions. May fair breezes fill the sails of 
the next ship that starts from the harbors of Ulster ! 

•^McSherry's Maryland; Annals of Annapolis, y>. 2>^. 
f Report of Virginia and Maryland Boundary Laws, 1873, Ap- 
pendix 80, 



CHAPTER IV. 
A. D. 1683. 

" Our mission was from Jesus Christ and warrented from the 
Scriptures." —Makemie. 

SOMEWHERE in the midst of these months, at a 
place unknown, on a day never to be named on 
the page of history, a circle of God's servants is 
gathered in the country of the Laggan. The doors 
are closed ; no eye but that of the All-Seeing beholds 
them. In his name they meet ; by his authority they 
act. The spies of the persecutor are abroad. 

In the midst of that well-tried band a young man 
kneels. He has been tested and not found wanting. 
Solemnly he is set apart to the perilous office with 
fasting and prayer and the laying on of hands. He 
rises under sanction of Presbytery and of the God of 
Presbytery to preach the gospel wherever the Master 
may appoint. 

No record is made of this solemn ceremony except 
on the registry by the eternal throne. Future histo- 
rians will search in vain to learn the time and place. 
Some time in the midst of God's months, somewhere 
in the land of the faithful and true, ordaining hands 
rested upon his brown locks, and Francis Makemie 
rose up an accredited herald of the cross. 

We turn again from the Old World to the New. I 
70 



A. D. 1683.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. J I 

have been reading an important paper issued seventeen 
years ago — the act of incorporation of our large county.* 

Thus the white man lays his hand upon the conti- 
nent and carves it as he will. But has not God his 
own purpose to subserve and a use for this quiet 
domain of forests and streams in the days yet to 
be ? The virgin county is just two years older than 
my friend Naomi. 

Judge Stevens is well acquainted with the faniily of 
Lord Baltimore, and speaks very pleasantly of the 
Lady Mary Somerset, for whom our county is named, 
as a woman of many quiet virtues and great benevo- 
lence, feeding the sick, clothing the naked, a favorite 
with all and much beloved by the young people — the 
true Lady Bountiful of St. Mary's.f So that we are 
not ashamed of the county's name and feel something 
of a chivalric love toward our lady-patroness across 
the bay. 

Several of the commissioners appointed at the or- 
ganization of the county were Quakers — none of them 
Catholics — our Proprietary selecting his officers irre- 
spective of sect. Here are portraits of three of them 
as painted three years before the organization by the 
imperious Scarborough : 

Stephen Horsey, ye ignorant yet insolent officer ; a cooper by 
profession, who lived long in ye lower parts of Accomack, once 
elected a burgess by ye comon crowd, and thrown out by ye 
Assembly for a factious tumultuous person ; a man repugnant 
to all government of all sects, yet professedly none ; constant 
in nothing but opposing church government ; his children at 
great ages yet unchristened ; that left the lower parts to head 

* Comprising now the three counties Somerset, Worcester and 
Wicomico. See Appendix 19. 

f J. P. Kennedy's historical romance, Rob of the Boivl, p. 71. 



72 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1683. 

rebellion at Anamessecks, where he now hveth, and stands ar- 
rested, but bids defiance until by stricter order dealt with. 

George Johnson, ye Proteus of heresy, who hath been often 
wandering in this county, where he is notorious for shifting 
schismatical pranks ; at length pitched at Anamessecks, where 
he hath bin this year and made a plantation ; a known drunk- 
ard, and reported by ye neighbors to be a man of dissolute 
habits and guilty of many evil deeds, and withstands govern- 
ment for fear of justice. He now professeth quaking and to 
instruct others who is himself to learn good manners, calling 
ye obedient subjects villains, rogues and foresworne persons for 
subscribing; stands arrested to appear before ye hon'ble gov'ner, 
and bids defiance untill stricter course be taken. 

Henry Boston, an unmannerly fellow, that stands condemned 
on our records for slighting and condemning ye laws of ye coun- 
ty, a rebel to government and disobedient to authority, for which 
he received a late reward with a rattan, and hath not subscribed ; 
hid himself, and so escaped arrest.* 

The pen of the Cavalier was as insolent as his 
presence. 

George Fox speaks of being at the house of James 
Jones, "a Friend and a justice of the peace, where we 
had a large and very glorious meeting." John White 
Gent., another of the original commissioners, is a 
brother-in-law of Colonel Stevens. 

As yet there have been no " witchcrafts, inchant- 
ments, sorcerys and magick arts " this side of the 
Chesapeake for these commissioners to inquire into. 
Henry Corbin, founder of the Corbin family in Vir- 
ginia, reported to our governor that Mary Lee had 
been hung as a witch on board the ship Charity dur- 
ing her voyage from England to Maryland in 1654. 
John Washington, father of the Virginia Washingtons, 
testified that Elizabeth Richardson was hung on a ship 
on her way to our province from England in 1659. 

* Scarborough's report, Accomack records. 



A. D. 1683.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 73 

Those concerned in both of these executions were 
prosecuted.* But, nine years ago (1674), John Cow- 
man was found guilty at St. Mary's of witchcraft on 
the body of Elizabeth Goodall, and was reprieved on 
condition that the sheriff carry him to the gallows 
with rope about his neck, and he there confess his in- 
debtedness for the sparing of his life solely to the 
mercy of the Lower House of Assembly in securing 
him a pardon.f AH this was on the Western Shore, 
and I pray that our Somerset courts may be for ever 
spared from this terrible business. Sometimes, when I 
look out into these dark forests and hear the hooting 
owls and feel the awe of our American wilderness, and 
think of women all around us bad enough to sell 
themselves to Satan, I almost shudder. 

Judge Stevens tells us that his Rehoboth plantation 
was patented in 1665, the year before the county was 
organized. For the old Bible name he points to Gen. 
xxvi. 22 : "And he removed from thence and digged 
another well, and for that they strove not; and he 
called the name of it Rehoboth ; and he said. For 
now the Lord hath made room for us and we shall be 
fruitful in the land." Elsewhere, both in Europe and 
on this continent, there had been enough Ezeks and 
Sitnahs, fountains of contention and hatred : this he 
would dedicate as an ever-welling spring of living 
waters, abundant space all around and freedom un- 
fettered for every faith to come and drink of the 
streams of peace and good-will to men. 

It was a memorable day which we spent together 
at this Rehoboth home — Mary, the rosy Scotch lassie ; 

* Neill's Founders of Maryland, pp. 128. 137. 

f Annali of Annapolis ; McSheny's History of Maryland. 



74 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1683. 

Peggy, the blue-eyed maid of Ulster; Margaret, the 
soft-toned singer of the Vincennes; Naomi, our dark- 
eyed Virginia friend ; and myself, the important repre- 
sentative of the Nonconformity of England. 

I must tell of an imposing ceremony in which we 
all took part. Our host, interested in whatever con- 
cerns the prosperity of this Shore, showed us a choice 
variety of grape sent him by a correspondent in the 
North of Ireland; and now he would have us assist 
in planting i^. 

" It stood," he said, " where the strong winds from 
old Scotia's glens and heaths fanned and fed its growth, 
and where the rich sod of Erin supplied its juices. It 
has crossed the ocean as a very little thing, but who 
knows, when watered by the dews and showers from 
the American sky, how widely it may spread and 
where its branches may reach ? Rehoboth — there 
is room ! The Bible speaks of the Church as a vine 
of God's planting, and I have not yet relinquished my 
hope of an answer to the letter that went to St. Johns- 
town wafted by so many prayers." 

" But," said some one, "the grapevine is not a native 
of Ireland." 

" Neither is the Presbyterian Church," he answered. 
" But exotics frequently do well by transplanting — are 
sometimes improved." 

We see his meaning, and are suddenly taken with a 
great enthusiasm. Our Scottish Mary seizes the hoe 
and cuts the weeds away ; our Ulster Peggy, spade in 
hand, makes the opening and sets in the scion ; our 
Huguenot Margaret, humming a song from Clement 
Marot, fills in the soil and mellows it about the plant; 
our Accomack Naomi props and trains it for graceful 



A. D. 1683.] THE DA YS OF MAKE MI E. 75 

growing; my own English hands hasten to dip the 
water from the shimmering Pocomoke and pour it 
about the roots; while the judge, just home from St. 
Mary's, representing to our thought the genius of the 
Maryland government and the fairness of the courts, 
looks on, smiling and encouraging these workers from 
many lands. In the yard, gazing without a word, were 
the judge's three sons — John, fourteen years old; Wil- 
liam, eleven ; and James, seven — all born on this plan- 
tation. Thereupon the fancy took me that through 
their eyes future generations of American birth were 
watching the planting and awaiting the results. 

Just as we finished, the youngest pet, little three-year- 
old Jane, came toddling into the circle and threw her 
dimpled arms around the laborers' necks and kissed 
us every one.* 

"The womanhood of the days to come is cheer- 
ing the planting of the vine," said her father. — " Now, 
boys, bring the cypress-rails of Eastern-Shore growth 
and fence it well. Foot of man nor beast must tread 
it down." 

We took a label and wrote upon it the figures 
" 1683." 

Just then a new burst of sunshine broke through 
the clouds and beamed in showers of light upon the 
infant vine. 

We went home, Naomi with me, full of the little 
drama we had enacted. That night my father said, 

" We want the purest and best. Northward of us are 
churches with Presbyterians in them — in the Jerseys, 
on Long Island and in New England — but the inter- 

* Somerset records give names of children and dates and place of 
birth as above. 



^6 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1683. 

mixture of laxer systems is too great for the organiza- 
tion of any Church in the full power of our faith and 
polity. In such partnership with the looser, there 
must always be a letting down in the compromise 
until that which is distinctive in the genius of Pres- 
byterianism is almost eliminated. There have been 
Congregational ministers over societies where there 
were some Presbyterians, and there have been Pres- 
byterian ministers over flocks largely Congrega- 
tional ; but in all such cases so much had to be con- 
ceded to peace and prejudice that what was peculiarly 
our own has been surrendered. In new, weak, mixed 
fields it could not be otherwise. . In alliances between 
the laxer and the stricter, the former will prevail in 
reducing the latter to its own level, sensitive and re- 
bellious if the more rigid views are asserted. In Pres- 
byterianism adulteration is death. 

" The difficulty in the North at present is not so 
much in doctrine as in government. Three years 
ago (1680) the Westminister Confession of Faith 
was adopted by the Synod at Cambridge, Independ- 
ents as zealous for it as anybody. And there are elders 
in name found here and there, but without true eccle- 
siastical authority and without authoritative Church 
courts. Calvinism so poorly guarded is not likely to 
last. 

" May God send us the staunch and genuine ! That 
which came into life under the preaching of Knox and 
grew into power amid the storms of its native heaths — 
that which has passed through one transplanting and 
proved its vitality upon the fields of Ulster — seems 
fitted of God, by parentage and training, for taking 
root upon a foreign shore. In these American wilds 



A. D. 1683.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE, TJ 

it would be bracing to listen to those who, under the 
strict usages of the Ulster Presbyteries, are required 
before ordination to give positive assurances of * adher- 
ing to the truth professed in the Reformed churches 
against Popery, Arminianism, Prelacy, Erastianism, 
Independency, and whatever else is contrary to sound 
doctrine and the power of godliness.' " 

A few days, and stirring news strikes us and goes 
reverberating from plantation to plantation. A sail 
has entered the Pocomoke bringing cargo more pre- 
cious than ever ploughed its waters before. A Presby- 
terian minister has arrived from Europe, is at the house 
of Judge Stevens and will preach next Sabbath. The 
riders along the narrow horse-roads carry the tidings 
everywhere. The boats upon the little rivers bear the 
good news to every landing. Traders at the farm-stores 
forget their purchases and hurry home. Word flies by 
the county road over to the Annamessex, up to the 
Monokin, there strengthens for further flight, and hur- 
ries on to the Wicomico. Another rumor starts for 
Accomack, and another for the seaboard. Every 
Presbyterian plantation is moved as winds from the 
ocean move the fields of silken maize. The arrival of 
George Fox caused no greater enthusiasm among the 
Quakers. 

The holy day has come, the whippoorwills — the 
first, probably, that the new preacher ever heard — an- 
nouncing the dawn with gladness. The Dove spreads 
her canvas and goes down the river. Other boats 
begin to dot the bosom of the winding Pocomoke. 

When we draw near the Rehoboth plantation, we 
see colonists arriving from below — the Andersons and 
Taylors and others from Accomack. The groves are 



78 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1683. 

full of horses with saddles and pillions. And still 
they come — the Jenkinses, the Browns, the Whites, 
the Howards, the Kings, the Spences, the Fassetts, 
the Layfields, the Covingtons, the Wilsons, the 
Joneses, the Dents, the Winders, the Colbourns, the 
Whittingtons, the Erskines, the Dashiels, the Hen- 
dersons, the Galbraiths, the Sangsters, the Handys, 
the Pipers, the Drydens, the Bostons, the Horseys, 
the Aydelotts, the Franklins, the Hopkinses, the 
Beauchamps, the Dennises, the Madduxes, the Fon- 
taines, the Elzeys, the Stevensons, the Alexanders, the 
Bowens, the Flemingses, the Venables, the Stewarts, 
the Baynums, the Brays, the Hudsons, the Clarkes, 
the Schofields, the Dickinsons, the Everndons, the 
Fentons, and many more.* 

Already are the colonists presenting the usual con- 
trasts of riches and poverty — of the higher and lower 
grades of social position — some maintaining the pomp 
and circumstance of the gentry of England, others 
humbly clad and excluded from the circle of the 
great. Here is the costume of light-green cloth 
trimmed with lace, the doublet, the ruff, the short 
cloak, the parti-colored stockings, the conical and 
broad-brimmed hat, showing the lingering fashions 
of the days of Cromwell. Not far off are some habit- 
ed in coarse buff jerkins, with belt and heavy buckle, 
leggins of rough leather and caps of undressed rabbit- 
skins — the hunters of the forest. Here, again, are hints 
of the tawdry dress of the period since the Restoration 
— embroidered velvet coats with wadded skirts, wrist- 
bands of fine lace, the large full vests, the embroid- 
ered breeches, the shoes with their showy silver buck- 

* Names from contemporaneous records. 



A. D. 1683.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 79 

les, and the jaunty three-cornered hats. Yet more are 
seen in coarse blue-and-gray frocks of Scotch cloth or 
home-spun and home-woven, wearing moccasins of un- 
tanned skins and leggins tied above the knees and over 
the shoes like a buskin. These are, of course, the 
poorer classes, many of them indentured servants. 
Yet let it be understood that some of these are 
among the most intelligent and excellent people in 
the province — men who have been impoverished and 
banished by the persecutor and are now paying their 
passage-money by four years of service.* 

We are pleasantly seated with one of our favorite 
families. Madam Mary Jenkins, the daughter of Rob- 
ert King, Gent, who lives over on the Monokin, is just 
nineteen years old and in the prime of her beauty. 
Her husband, Francis Jenkins, is one of the justices and 
a member of the governor's council, and therefore hon- 
ored with the title -of " Colonel." The youthful Madam 
Mary is elegantly dressed and very fascinating — a hat 
of green silk with a graceful pinner, a closely-fitting 
jacket, also of green silk, a scarlet silk petticoat and 
silk shoes with very high heels. Lace floats about 
her like fleecy clouds over the moon. 

All around us are women in kersey waistcoats and 
linsey-woolsey petticoats, heavy stockings of their own 
knitting, shoes bought for the occasion, the shoes and 
stockings brought in their hands and put on within a 
mile of the house. 

All is expectancy. Now the door opens and the 
minister appears, wearing the black Genevan gown 
and the white bands. We recognize the description 
which had preceded him — the intellectual forehead 

* Costumes adapted from Kennedy. 



80 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1683. 

crowned with brown locks, the fair complexion, the 
expressive blue eyes, and, over all, the mien of a 
true Irish gentleman. This is the pupil of Drum- 
mond and Hart and Trail — he who in boyhood 
played by the shores of Lough Swilly and who now 
stands upon the banks of our own Pocomoke. This 
is Francis Makemie (20). 

How the ears and the hearts of the Scotch and 
Scotch-Irish exiles thrill under the familiar tones of 
their countryman, vibrating with memories of home ! 
Need we wonder if the tears flow while his plaintive 
accent reminds them of martyred pastors over the sea? 
Nor will the most fastidious, in their embroidered vel- 
vets and Persian silks, find anything to offend the 
cultured ear. In its first utterances to the American 
continent, Presbytery speaks through an educated 
ministry. 

Yonder, too, sit King Daniel of the Pocomokes and 
our friend Matchacoopah. Over to the other side are 
the black-skinned children of Africa, their gaze fixed 
upon Mr. Makemie and listening. I see the preacher's 
eyes again and again resting upon these natives of 
Africa and America. He has never seen either of 
them before. Two mighty race-problems are there 
before him, unsolved. 

It is pleasant to hear our minister take position 
firmly and emphatically by the Holy Scriptures. The 
American Presbyterian Church is talking of her great 
charter. Note his words : 

" The Christian religion has so full, so complete, and so per- 
fect a Rule, or Canon, for its guide and direction, that there is 
nothing deficient that is necessary for the Christian's counsel, 
and for advancing his accomplishment, in every state and 



A. D. 1683.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 8 1 

condition, in every station, capacity or relation, men may be 
placed in of God in the world ; whether for instructing blinded 
and dead sinners what glory and perfection they were originally 
created in and willfully forfeited and lost by Adam's apostasy ; or 
for detecting the enormities and irregularities, both of heart and 
life, as a clear looking-glass wherein we view both the inward 
and outward man. And it not only points out to sinners the 
true way of life and salvation, but most particularly instructs 
us how to think, how to speak and how to act, both toward God 
and toward one another. And this is the Word of life, the Rev- 
elation of Heaven, the Rule and Test both of faith and life. 

" Lives are orderly or disorderly as they are guided and gov- 
erned by that Rule or not conformed thereto. For every sin is 
nothing else but a transgression of the law, a violation or devia- 
tion from that Rule. And by this Rule our actions shall be de- 
tected and conversations judged and tried. It is termed from 
the Spirit of God a walking according to rule. Gal. vi. 16. It 
is called a walking in the law of the Lord. Ps. cxix. i. It is 
called a taking heed to our ways according to God's Word. 
Ps. V. 9. And this rule and canon is the revealed will, law and 
mind of God, which is a clear, a perfect, universal and extensive 
rule and canon, directing us in the management of our very 
thoughts and intentions of our souls, beyond the power and 
virtue of all human laws. It is a bridle and gives check to our 
unruly tongues and regulates our very words without which all 
religion is judged vain. James i. 26. 

" How little regard is had hereunto by this licentious age who 
glory in oaths and curses, exercise their wits and parts in all 
obscenities, ribaldry and profaneness, mocking and ridiculing 
and hissing at all conversation any way tending to the honor of 
God and edification of our neighbor ; and even this by such as 
make no small pretence to religion and devotion ! 

" It is a rule and guide for our lives and actions, instructing 
and guiding all men how to demean themselves toward God, 
our neighbor and ourselves ; both what we are to forbear and 
abstain from, and in doing our duty. Tit. ii. 11, 12. 'For the 
grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all, 
teaching us that denying ungodhness and worldly lusts, we 
should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present 
world.' "* 

The flutter of the leaves of the old Bibles in the 

* Makemie's New York sermon. 



82 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1683. 

hands of our North Britons whenever the minister 
quoted a text was refreshing to hear and to see. His 
preaching was as full of Scripture as Peter's on the 
day of Pentecost, keeping God's word prominent as 
authority for all he said. A man of attractive pres- 
ence, a speaker of considerable oratorical power, his 
chief strength lay in the honor which he placed upon 
the Holy Bible. 

Before sermon the preacher had read and com- 
mented upon the chapter, for he does not practice the 
** dumb-reading " common in the ritualistic churches. 
Oh how the old psalm from Rouse swelled out that 
day up and down the banks of the Pocomoke! That 
all might sing, the minister read it out line by line : 

" By Babel's streams we sat and wept, 

when Zion we thought on. 
In midst thereof we hanged our harps 

the willow trees upon. 
For there a song required they 

who did us captive bring ; 
Our spoilers called for mirth and said, 

*A song of Zion sing.' 
Oh, how the Lord's song shall we sing 

within a foreign land ? 
If thee, Jerus'lem I forget, 

skill part from my right hand !" 

The worship continued until after two o'clock and 
did not seem long. Mary, our rosy Scotch lassie, 
Peggy, the blue-eyed maid of Ulster, Margaret, the 
sweet voiced-singer of the Vincennes, and Naomi, the 
Virginia beauty, looked happier and holier than I had 
ever seen them before. 

After service the judge presented us to the minister, 
saying that we represented the various types of Pres- 



A. D. 1683.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 83 

byterianism on the Shore, and we felt greatly honored. 
Thinking then of her native Ireland, Peggy was 
prouder than any of us. 

My father came to the group and said, 
" Young maidens, the vine has taken root." 
We looked at the enclosed scion, and the buds were 
alive and swelling. 

I was glad that I had written so much about the 
county and its inhabitants, for who knows what great 
interests for future generations may be germinating to- 
day in these lands south of the Nanticoke ? I was 
glad that we had heard of Ramelton, too, and the 
little home back upon the hill which rises away from 
Lough Svvilly, and of what we knew of the young 
man's fearlessly braving the perils of a consecration 
to the ministry in such troublous times. 

It was not long before my father had Mr. Makemie 
home with us. The pone had been mellowing all 
night, and was yellow and luscious ; Matchacoopah 
had captured the great wild turkey and brought us a 
new supply of oysters : His Turkeyship was brown and 
tender; brother John had found the bee tree and 
secured its treasures ; Martha and I had been gather- 
ing the myrtle-berries, and the candles made from their 
wax were straight and firm and as fragrant as the 
spices of the Indies ; the sassafras-root supplied us 
with a beverage no less palatable than the costly tea 
of China; our pewter dishes had been rubbed until 
bright as silver. The Eastern Shore was doing her 
best for her pioneer minister, and his cordial appre- 
ciation of it all proved that God had formed him 
for the land to which he had come. 

It was soon noticeable that Mr. Makemie manifested 



84 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D, 1683. 

an interest in whatever concerned the temporal pros- 
perity of the people as well as in their religious cul- 
ture. He wished to know all about the condition of 
the country and what was doing for its advancement. 
My father spoke of the act of Assembly this year 
for the establishment of towns of import and export. 
Five have been designated for our county — the first 
on the Wicomico, by the bay-side, on the land next 
above the property belonging to the orphans of 
Charles Ballard ; the second on the north side of 
Mudford Creek, on Smith's and Glannil's island ; the 
third on Horsey's land, in Annamessex ; the fourth on 
Morgan's land, commonly called '* Burrow's," toward 
the head of the Pocomoke ; and the fifth on the land 
between Mr. Francis Jenkins's plantation and Mr. Ed- 
mund Howard's, on the north side of our river. This 
is about to take the name of " Rehoboth," from Colonel 
Stevens's plantation. In each of these, one hundred 
acres are to be divided into one hundred lots, any 
person to have a lot free of cost who will build on it 
a house twenty feet square by the last of August, 1685.* 
Virginia also has been trying to effect the establishment 
of towns. On their plan Mr. Anderson built last year 
at Onancock.f 

Mr. Makemie seems already in sympathy with the 
spirit of public improvement, and speaks as if he were 
one of us. Besides other benefits to arise from com- 
ing together into these trading posts, he says, 

" Our fishery would be advanced and improved highly by en- 
couraging many poor men to follow that calling. Our vast 
plenty of oysters would make a beneficial trade, both with the 
town and foreign traders, believing we have the best oysters 

* Acts of Assembly 1683. f Accomack records. 



A. D. 1683.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 85 

for pickling and transportation, if carefully and skillfully man- 
aged. So that it is not to be doubted but if towns were pro- 
moted, many poor people would produce more, by selling sun- 
dry things which now turn to little account, than they now make 
of whole tobacco crops." * 

It was natural that he and my father should talk 
together of the sad state of affairs in the British Isles 
and in France. The Stuart is a bribed underling of 
the Catholic king Louis, and both are tyrants — our 
own the baser of the two. 

We learn from Mr. Makemie that many ministers 
and thousands of others are looking to this country 
and awaiting reports from himself as to homes in 
America. He has come not only to bring the gospel 
to God's scattered people here, but to explore the land 
and send back word to those who are gazing anx- 
iously across the deep.f 

To have a minister of God again by our household 
altar, as in other days, was indeed a pleasure. He 
questioned us all upon his last sermon, and then from 
the Westminster Catechism. After reading and ex- 
plaining the Scriptures and leading us in prayer that 
we might love the truth and embody it in our lives, 
he said to us, 

" Neglect of family religion promotes as much irreligion as 
any one thing beside. Many parents will labor hard, rise up 
early and sit up late, to provide for the backs and bellies of 
their children ; and he is worse than an infidel that does not ; 
but what must they be that take no care of, and make no pro- 
vision for, their souls, but ruin them by sinful indulgence and so 
train up vassals for the Devil instead of training up servants for 
the living God ? And as youth and tender years are fittest for 
bearing the yoke of religion, so they are the most suitable for 

* From Makemie's Perswasive for Promoting Towns, etc. 
f Makemie's letter from Elizabeth River, quoted hereafter. 



86 THE DAYS OF MA REM IE. [A. D. 1683. 

receiving impressions of divine knowledge and habits of right 
hving. For want of which early Christian education, many run 
naturally, as the sparks fly upward, to a thousand disorders and 
all excess of riot." * 

In answer to a question from my father, Mr. Make- 
mie was led into some account of God's gracious deal- 
ings with his own soul. We felt deep interest in 
whatever concerned his personal history. He told 
us of the old school-house on the hills of Donegal, 
and of the good man who was there teaching for 
eternity as well as in the sciences of earth. I shall 
never forget how modestly and how solemnly the 
minister spoke : 

" Ere I received the imposition of hands in that Scriptural and 
orderly separation unto my holy and ministerial calling, I gave 
enquiring satisfaction to godly, learned and judicious men, of a 
work of grace and conversion wrought on my heart, at fifteen 
years of age, by and from the pains of a godly schoolmaster 
who used no small diligence in gaining tender souls to God's 
service and fear. Since which time, to the glory of his free 
grace be it spoke, I have had the sure experiences of God's 
various dealings with me, according to his infinite and unerr- 
ing wisdom, to my unspeakable comfort." f 

Very early had God begun the preparation of heart 
and life for some great work. I thought of my friend 
Naomi being now just fifteen years old, and I wished 
that she could have heard him. 

The months that followed were privileged seasons 
in the lives of our Presbyterian colonists. Mr. Make- 
mic was everywhere, cheering the hearts of the scattered 
Calvinists, preaching on the Annamessex, preaching on 
the Monokin, preaching on the Wicomico, preach- 
ing up toward the head of navigation on the Poco- 

* New York sermon. f From Makemie's Aits7vcr to Keith. 



A. D. 1683.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 8/ 

moke, preaching over on the seaboard, preaching 
down on the Virginia Hne, carrying God's comforting 
messages wherever the lonely Presbyterian heart 
yearned for the gospel in its purity. In the young 
man we witness a zeal and energy which cannot rest 
while he sees the great destitutions in America. 

Before the year is past we learn of the execution 
of the patriots Russell and Algernon Sidney, wholly 
innocent of the conspiracy charged against them, their 
standing in the way of the despotism of the tyrant 
being their only crime. The brutal tool, Judge Jef- 
freys, dances in glee over the judicial murder of 
Sidney.* This same " Rye-House Plot " is charged 
against the Presbyterians of Scotland and made the 
pretext for more terrible persecutions there. Ministers 
fly thither from Ireland, to find their condition worse 
than at home. The distress deepens everywhere, and 
many more are talking of emigrating. 

Meanwhile, there is hilarity at court. Seven days 
after the noble Lady Russell is made a widow, Anne, 
the king's niece, marries amid great rejoicings. The 
king publicly parades his sins. The wicked riot in 
iniquity, while the godly are oppressed in the name 
of religion. 

But above all interests now to us, is the presence of 
our minister with us and the great gospel privileges 
that are ours. My father says that Mr. Makemie is 
already giving evidence of capacity as an organizer, 
bringing our people together for co-operation in a 
common purpose, and exerting himself to place our 
cause upon a permanent basis. It needs a strong 
man to represent our Church here properly at this 

* Evelyn's Diary, December 5. 



88 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1683. 

juncture, standing as it does between two widely- 
contrasted systems. On the one extreme is Epis- 
copacy, subordinating the spiritual to its Laudian 
externals, making its sacraments saving, very careless 
in morals and unchurching all who will not subscribe 
to the apostolic virtue of a diocesan's hands. On the 
other extreme is the Quakers' hate of all visible forms, 
discarding the sacraments, ridiculing the ordination of 
the ministry, demeaning the Sabbath, believing that 
there is no religion where their mysterious divine 
afflatus is not claimed, and subordinating the Bible 
to this Inner Light. These two are not only violently 
antagonistic to each other, but to all who would avoid 
their widely diverse errors. To maintain a firm and 
scriptural stand between the two demands a leader of 
vigorous intellect, acknowledged piety and great de- 
cision of character. So says mine honored sire. 

This year, while the Turks were pressing Vienna and 
the Austrian king had fled and hope was almost gone, 
John Sobieski appeared with his valiant Poles upon 
the mountain of Holimburg, and the beleaguered peo- 
ple, weary, waiting, watching, saw the lances and the 
banners, took heart, renewed the struggle and soon 
were free. This same year, while latitudinarianism 
and immorality abound, and while Prelacy and Mysti- 
cism are doing but little here to stay the foe, a timely 
leader has come to our help against the prevailing 
errors, and we too are cheered and feel that deliver- 
ance is at hand. 

Matchacoopah has taught us the art of another dish 
made from the Indian corn — a dish which has already 
found its way into poetr}^ The dough, spread upon 
boards and baked before the large open fires, is called 



A. D. 1683.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 89 

''johnny-cake," already contracted into "jonakin." 
So long ago as the year 1675 — the year that Mr. 
Makemie entered the University of Glasgow — the 
poetic schoolmaster of Boston, Mr. Benjamin Thom- 
son, wrote as follows : 

" The times wherein old Pompion was a saint — 
When men fared hardly, yet without complaint, 
On vilest cates — the dainty Indian maize 
Was eat with clamp shells out of wooden trays, 
Under thatched huts without the cry of rent. 
And the best sauce to every dish — content. 
When Cimnels were accounted noble blood 
Among the tribes of common herbage-food — 
'Twas in those days an honest grace would hold 
Till an hot pudding grew at heart a-cold. 
And men had better stomachs to religion 
Than I to capon, turkey-cock or pigeon. 
When honest sisters met to pray, not prate 
About their own, and not their neighbor's, state — 
Then times were good ; merchants cared not a rush 
For other fare than jonakin and mush " (21). 



CHAPTER V. 
A. D. 1684. 

" My compassion over tender souls in an American desert." — Makemie. 

THE tutelary saint chosen for Maryland by the 
Romanists is no other than the famous founder 
of the Jesuit order, Ignatius Loyola. While Luther 
(born A. D. 1483 — just two centuries before the ar- 
rival of our Makemie upon these shores) was rising 
in the might of the great Reformation to shake the 
papal throne, another great movement, under another 
great leader — born only eight years after Luther — was 
rising in its might to prop that throne against the 
heavy blows of the new Protestantism. When the 
Ark and Dove started from Europe, Father White, 
himself a Jesuit, tells us that they implored the inter- 
cession "of the Blessed Virgin, of St. Ignatius, and of 
all the guardian angels of Maryland." The beautiful 
St. Inigoe's Creek perpetuates the Spanish name of the 
patron saint, and there, on the side of St. Mary's 
nearest the creek, is a chapel devoted to Loyola and 
held in great esteem. 

Here, upon our own Pocomoke, we now raise our 
little wilderness sanctuary, dedicating the cypress 
temple and the soil it adorns to no saint in Romish 
calendar, but to the blessed Redeemer alone, invoking 
his presence and favor as our one glorious Patron and 
Helper. 

(10 



A. D. 1684.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 9 1 

Mr. Makemie warns against dissensions among 

fellow-Protestants, showing that their uncharitable- 

ness toward one another only strengthens the power 

of Rome and encourages her schemes of evil. He 

says : 

" It has been too notorious what diabolical designs and base 
plots the emissaries of Rome have contrived, promoted and 
attempted, to overthrow that glorious work and cause of Reforma- 
tion, or to lead or cajole us back into our anti-Christian slavery, 
idolatry and superstition ; and for effectuating thereof they have 
not been wanting, neither have stuck at anything to widen our 
breaches, augment our differences, hinder our mutual conde- 
scensions and our endeavored accommodations, raising implacable 
heats and keeping us asunder by distinguishing names, setting 
up contrary interests, and often raising violent storms of bitter 
persecutions, instigating the ascendant party still to trample 
upon the Nonconformists and by all means to render them black 
and odious. And all this, and much more, to ruin Protestants 
and weaken the Protestant interest." 

It is believed that the present king * is a Papist in 
disguise, and there is no doubt about his probable 
successor, the Duke of York, being a Papist of 
deepest dye. Under these circumstances, those who 
are exposed to the hatred of the common foe ought to 
be too wise to prey upon one another. Yet there are 
many in Virginia, and Maryland too, as well as in the 
British Isles, who are ready to war upon their fellow- 
Protestants and play indirectly into the hands of Rome. 
Mr. Makemie continued : 

" I wish there may not be found among us still too many in- 
cendiaries to raise dissentions and stir up unchristian heats 
among Reformed Protestants that we may become a prey to 
the common enemy." f 

There are Yeos and Coodes yet in our province, 
watchfully awaiting their opportunity. Our side of 

* Charles II, f Makemie's Truths in a True Light. 



92 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1684. 

the bay is peaceful. Mr. John Hewett, our Episco- 
pal clergyman, seems inclined to give us no trouble. 
Colonel Stevens, a man of affairs, appreciates Mr. 
Makemie's magnanimity, sound judgment and prac- 
tical common sense. He knows that these are gifts 
which mould possibilities into prosperity, building up 
commonwealths and churches. Deeply interested in 
developing this Shore, he is tolerant in his feelings 
toward all sects and opposed to any contentions be- 
tween them. Rehoboth ! On this vast continent 
there ought to be room enough for all. 

In our county are several centres of increasing 
population. At these, the churches naturally gather 
and take form. One of these centres for religious 
gatherings, now for a number of years, has been 
the Rehoboth plantation. There the grand jury 
invited Mr. Maddux to preach in 1672, there George 
Fox preached at the Quakers' monthly meetings in 
1672 and 1673, and there the Church of England 
clergy have been equally welcome. Mr. Hewett 
and the Richardsons have warm friends along our 
river (22). The Assembly having now located one 
of its towns of export and import in this section, 
just below the plantation, the gathering of the peo- 
ple for business and otherwise will be more and more 
in this direction. The few Virginia Presbyterians, not 
tolerated on their own soil, will be better accommo- 
dated at Rehoboth than almost anywhere else as yet; 
boat-travel being the most pleasant of all in these days 
of poor roads, undrained swamps and bad bridges. In 
tender compassion for God's scattered sheep, Mr. Make- 
mie goes everywhere seeking out the exiled Presby- 
terians and breakinsf to them the bread of life. 



[A. D. 1684J THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 93 

I want to describe one of these journeys as a speci- 
men of many others. Colonel Stevens and his broth- 
er-in-law, Sheriff White, were going over into Bock- 
etenorton Hundred and then up the bay to look after 
their purchases, and our religious pioneer — as enter- 
prising in his work as they in theirs — decides to ac- 
company them. Now I hear that my father is going 
too, and a strong fancy takes possession of me to be 
one of the party. The judge calls me a true Mary- 
land girl and secures my father's consent. Ever since 
the bright May morning, four years ago, when the ris- 
ing sun blazed over the beaches upon the beautiful in- 
land bay and the green woodlands beyond, giving us 
the first glimpse of the great New World, the desire 
has remained with me to explore those fair regions. 

It looks strange to see our minister with holster and 
pistols strapped to his saddle, as fully armed as the 
others. This is a reminder that there are bad Indians 
as well as good, that there are dangerous men among 
the white colonists too, and that we are \w a land of 
wolves and bears. These wild beasts, and the wilder 
men of the times, would not respect the officers of the 
law nor our minister more than any one else. Match- 
acoopah guides us as far as the coast, leading us care- 
fully through the unsettled lands and to points where 
streams are fordable — " unna-tah-quit-timps," as he 
calls the shallow places. 

Southward from our ferry we travel upon the Vir- 
ginia road, meaning to strike the inhabited part of the 
coast in the Chingoteague settlements. Entering the 
low grounds near a little stream, suddenly several ar- 
rows (kullah-ow) speed in rapid succession from his bow 
(all-ontz), and a large animal falls dead at our feet 



94 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1684. 

from the thick branches overhead. "Winquipim" 
("A bear "), says the Indian, with great satisfaction ; 
and soon a fine steak is danghng at his side. While 
he secures his prize on that Httle elevation near the 
junction of two branches of the stream, Mr. Make- 
mie speaks of it as a fit location for a temple of the 
living God ; and we all felt its retired solemnity, its 
picturesque environment of venerable trees and its con- 
venient nearness to the Virginia line. God had planted 
these old forests long before the keel of Columbus 
had sought the Indies, and the gray mosses seemed 
to hang like tabernacle curtains around the site for 
a sacred shrine to the Most High God. 

Mr. Stevens intimates that the bells are already ring- 
ing for the congregations to assemble. Chimes of 
frogs' voices, in all keys of the gamut, are rising from 
the waters around us. The explanation is made to the 
new immigrant that these merry harbingers of the 
springtime are currently called " the Virginia bells " 
in the parlance of the colonists (23). All smile at my 
admission that for me these choruses are full of music. 
Somebody speaks of the similarity between these 
cadences and the Indian names of our streams and 
rivers — Pocomoke, Quindocqua, Aricoco, Morumsco, 
Rockawakin, Nassiongo, Quepongo. 

Not many months afterward we would remember 
Mr. White's remark: "These Virginia bells were 
sounding here long before we heard them, and they 
will be ringing long after our ears shall hear them no 
more." No one then knew how soon the body of the 
speaker was to be laid near our river where Nature's 
requiems should go on singing down the centuries the 
memories of the pioneers of the wilderness. 



A. D. 1684.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 95 

Mr. Stevens tells me that the stream we are fording 
is named " Pitts's Creek," for a resident of the counties 
below — Mr. Robert Pitts, who has patented thousands 
of acres through these sections. It remained uncertain 
to which province the lands belonged until the divis- 
ional line was run by Scarborough and Calvert in 
1668. In memory I marked well the site of that lit- 
tle hill, and wondered if the day would come when the 
praises of God would there be sung by human voices 
where now the choirs of woods and waters were hon- 
oring the Great Jehovah. 

Matchacoopah is a wary guide ; and where the dim 
horse-roads fail us, he leads through the more open 
forests and finds the easiest paths for me. Soon the 
breezes grow more refreshing, and the air seems to be 
full of heavy sound as of distant thunder. I hear Mr. 
Stevens speak from time to time of traversing lands 
patented from 1666 to 1678 by Daniel Selby, Colo- 
nel Wallop, Colonel Littleton and Major Edward Rob- 
ins. Suddenly the beautiful silver bay opens before 
us, and the scene enchants me. 

Mr. Makemie is equally moved. He loves the sea- 
shore and its voices, and I think we saw the sparkle 
of the waves of Lough Swilly in his face that bright 
day. My father says that no one born beside the sea 
ever loosens from the embrace of its great arms about 
the heart. 

Night beside the waters, the deep roll of the break- 
ers booming along the beaches of Assateague. Mr. 
Stevens patented a part of its southern end and is 
well known in these parts. He has no difficulty in 
securing hospitable entertainment and the use of a 
boat for our expedition. Everywhere Mr. Makemie 



96 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1684. 

is more careful in inquiring for Presbyterians than for 
food and comfort. 

Just as the rising sun shines over the beaches, fill- 
ing the bay with millions of dancing diamonds, we 
embark upon our pinnace with the prow northward. 
Beneath us, in their many native coves, we see the fat 
oysters " laying on the ground as thick as stones," 
as said John Pory in his gay picture of the colonists' 
first month in Virginia in 1607 — perhaps the oldest 
mention of the oyster in American history. Chingo- 
teague and Pope's islands are left to the south of us. 
Gliding by many low green islands or shining stretches 
of sand, occasionally we touch at points on the main- 
lands in which these patentees are interested, and where 
Mr. Makemie would hunt for Presbyterians — beautiful 
indentations of seaboard, graceful little crystal lagoons. 
Indian wigwams alternate more frequently than the 
cabins of the whites, and their canoes are often seen 
fishing on the clam-banks. 

Toward evening a point of land seems to approach 
from the north, cleaving in twain the expanse of 
waters. Gradually it grows into a low emerald prom- 
ontory clad in woodland, and not far from its south- 
ern cape we notice a residence shaded by native 
groves, with children playing about the yard. Thither 
we move and disembark — a romantic spot for a home, 
the New Haven, or Sinepuxent, Bay on the east, with 
the great ocean beyond ; the Newport Bay on the 
west. 

Our county officers know the proprietor — Mr. Ed- 
ward Wale, a resident of our own part of the county 
until 1679, Judge Stevens having there married him 
to Miss Elizabeth Ratcliff on the 29th of January, 



A. D. 1684.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 97 

1669. He and his brother-in-law, Charles Ratclifif, 
patented twenty-two hundred acres on this end of 
"the neck" in 1679, and divided it between them in 
168 1. Seven children, ages varying from fifteen years 
to two — little Sinepuxoners, as their father calls them 
— are making South Point ring with childhood's glad- 
ness. 

We are warmly welcomed. The colonists are 
always glad to see new guests — perhaps especially 
so in this region, since our ov/n communication 
with other parts of the world is more frequent. And is 
there not something in the very air to inspire to kindli- 
ness? A large drum-fish upon the supper-table re- 
gales appetites sharpened by the fresh atmosphere 
breathed all day and stiP blowing about us. 

My attention is attractc^d from everything else to an 
old gentleman whom we have not seen until we meet 
him at the table. He seems much worn with age and 
care. Certainly seventy years old, but there is a state- 
liness and dignity about him which is very marked. 
He is habited in a faded costume of the days of the 
Protector and bears himself with a military air, re- 
minding us of the soldiers of England. His face 
and forehead are full of intelligence, and his eye now 
and then glows with flashes almost electric. He looks 
like a man of grand experiences — one used to com- 
mand. 

When presented to this Mr. Middleton, we were re- 
ceived by him with a silent bow. I could not help 
watching him, and, though apparently taking but lit- 
tle notice of us or of the conversation, there were 
occasional flashes of the eye which showed that we 
were not unobserved. Finally I saw that grand old 
7 



98 THE DAYS OF MA'KEMIE. [A. \). 1684. 

face beam with expression and the soul within seem 
to arouse hke a Hon from sleep. Mr. Makemie had 
just said : 

"It is the superlative excellency of the Christian religion, 
and a demonstration of the fulness of the Scriptures, that there\ 
are duties for all ranks and stations prescribed and taught there ; \ 
for the sins incii^nt to all degrees and ranks of men and women, ' 
are detected and- reproved there. Magistrates and rulers in the 
government and'^tate, have the work cut out to their hands and 
are limited and bounded by the Supreme Law of an Universal 
Sovereign, to whom the greatest of them must be accountable. ^ 
The subject oweth subjection, loyalty and obedience to his just 
and lawful commands ; for he is the minister of God for good ; 
and this is due by virtue of a divine command and appointment. 
But if he exceeds his power and require anything sinful and re- 
pugnant to the laws of God, the Apostle's rule is still observable : 
God is to be obeyed rather than man." * 

It was pleasant to witness the admiration with which 
the old man was regarding our youthful minister. I 
thought he was on the point of speaking— the fire 
blazing into words ; but it was suppressed, and he 
was silent. Did Mr. Wale appear uneasy, appre- 
hensive? The topic was certainly soon changed. 

The old man continued to observe Mr. Makemie 
very closely. As we passed from the table he took 
our minister's arm and asked him if he were a clergy- 
man of the Church of England ; then how long he 
had been in America; and then, again, something 
about the present Stuart king. 

Who was this remarkable man, here upon this ob- 
scure neck of land? The rough Western world is 
not a place for the aged, unless driven from European 
homes by the tyranny that spares not old or young. 
Even after I went to bed his impressive bearing re- 

* Makemie's New York sermon. 



A D. 1 684.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 99 

mained with me like a presence. I dreamed of him, 
my vision mixing him up strangely with ancient heroes 
who seemed to come and go among phantom islands 
and estuaries of a coast like this. Frequently I was 
startled into wide wakefulness by the shock of battle 
and the flight and pursuit of armies. The roar of the 
surf along the beach continued the cannonading of 
my dream. 

Our judge and sheriff says there is a mystery con- 
nected with the old man which no one can explain, 
that he came from Virginia into the province about 
the time Mr. Wale moved from the Pocomoke settle- 
ments up to Sinepuxent, and that he had kept aloof 
from the colonists, evidently avoiding all familiarity. 
This trip has given me another romance, at which sis- 
ter Martha enjoyed her usual smile. But I knew that 
this rude Western wilderness has been the asylum of 
many a noble exile. 

Sailing on up the eastern fork of the bay next 
morning, and passing along the tract of land called 
" Goshen," patented by Mr. Makemie's friend Colonel 
Jenkins, in one of its green groves bordered by its 
white fringe of sand we see a little town of the abo- 
rigines, their canoes strowing the banks. A larger 
cabin indicates the palace of majesty, and, veering our 
course nearer, we see Queen Weocomoconus sitting 
in state at the door and her son Knusonum at her 
side with the plumes of the sea-gull in his hair. Her 
leading men approach the shore, making their trade- 
signs and inviting us closer. We hear one of them 
speaking intelligible English and offering for sale 
fancy shells (peake and roenoke) and the luxurious 
soft crabs. We made some purchases, and I secured 



lOO THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1684. 

from Robin, the interpreter, the names of other lead- 
ing men of the tribe — Wasposson, Tanguawton, 
Squifortum, Young Robin and Rintaughton (24). 

The crabs were cooked, and we enjoyed a feast 
worthy of royalty, wishing long life to Queen Weo- 
comoconus and centuries of prosperous growth to these 
rare delicacies of her dominions. 

Passing the estate called " Neighborhood," we come 
to the tract of two thousand acres owned by Judge 
Stevens, patented by him, under the name of " Car- 
mel," in the year 1679. The bay here narrows into 
what is called " The Thoroughfare," and, looking 
northward, we see it widening and then narrowing 
up to the country claimed by William Penn. Above 
and below, the water-view is beautiful. To this point 
the judge had come to see after the interests of his 
lands. Horses are obtained, the pinnace going back 
to meet us at the head of Newport Bay, with orders 
to stop on the way and send a guide from the Indian 
town. 

Wasposson came promptly, refusing any horse and 
keeping pace with us on a long quick trot westward 
through the woods and over the heads of streams. 
Mr. Ambrose White had joined us, coming from his 
estate called " Happy Entrance," north of St. Martin's 
River, owned by him through Mr. Stevens since 1679. 
The meeting with these widely-scattered Presbyterians 
was delightful. The sight of a godly minister of their 
own in these far wilds melted their souls to thankful- 
ness and their eyes to tears. Together we went on to 
Kelsey Hill — another of Mr. Stevens's tracts, taken 
up but a year ago — thence on a mile farther to his 
land called " Burley," of three hundred acres, granted 



A. D. 1684.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. lOI 

him in 1677 (25). Coyes's Folly, belonging to Mr. 
Wale, lies to the north, and Mount Pleasant between 
the two. On the Burley tract a gentle quiet hill cov- 
ered with venerable oaks and gemmed with wild-flow- 
ers, offered a quiet resting-place for our midday repast. 
There we sat during the hour of noon, while Mr. 
Makemie lined the twenty-third psalm from dear old 
Rouse, and we sang together : 

"The Lord's my Shepherd, I'll not want; 

he makes me down to lie 
In pastures green ; he leadeth me 

the quiet waters by. 
My soul he doth restore again, 

and me to walk doth make 
Within the paths of righteousness, 

ev'n for his own name's sake. 
Goodness and mercy all my life 

shall surely follow me, 
And in God's house for evermore 

my dwelling-place shall be." 

We went on southward to Sheriff White's lands 
of fifteen hundred acres — a tract granted to Colonel 
Stevens in 1668 and conveyed to Mr. White in 1681. 
In memory of the judge's native county in England, it 
took the name of" Buckingham." Crossing a " branch " 
and ascending another hill, some one said, 

" While making these land-surveys, why not watch 
out for the sites patented in the counsels of the 
Almighty for churches yet to be ?" 

I was bold enough to say, 

" Why not just here, upon grounds taken up by one 
who represents so well the genius of Maryland in her 
tolerance of all religions ?" 

As we were soon to part from Mr. Ambrose White, 



I02 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1684. 

it was proposed to hold a little season of prayer. I 
well remember Mr. Makemie's paraphrase of the divine 
promise : 

" I will show the salvation of God. That is, I will discover 
and manifest this salvation which was hid and concealed from 
ages and the past generations ; yea, even from the wise and 
prudent, and will shew it unto babes. Yea, which is more, I will 
particularly and in a more special manner instruct and direct 
you, by my word and Spirit, effectually and savingly, to this 
necessary and great salvation. But more than all this is implied 
in the promise ; I will most freely and fully give, impart, bestow 
upon and apply this salvation unto you. Unspeakable promise ! 
Unparalleled blessing ! Desired by most, obtained by few, and 
fully known by none but such as are swallowed up in the eternal 
enjoyment thereof." * 

The voices of the pines seemed hushed while our 
minister led us to the throne of grace and dedicated 
these territories anew to the God that made them. 
Wasposson looked on in silence. Then we rode on 
eastward, through the length of the Buckingham 
plantation, down to Newport Creek, where our pin- 
nace was awaiting us (26). 

At South Point we touched again, to put Wasposson 
on shore and exchange salutations with our late host. 
In one of the denser hummocks I saw the venerable 
man walking thoughtfully, erect and slow ; but if he 
noticed us at all, it was only to retire farther into the 
recesses of the grove. What is the secret of this life 
buried here amid the shadows of the New World ? 

This was only one of many journeys of Mr. Ma- 
kemie to seek and cheer the scattered sheep of the 
Good Shepherd — now up the Pocomoke, now down to 
the Annamessex, now over to the Monokin, now on 
beyond to the Wicomico. He is awake to everything 

* Makemie's New York sermon. 



A. D. 1684.] THE DAXS OF MAKEMIE. IO3 

that concerns the needs of the colonists. Other Pres- 
byterian ministers have been upon this continent before 
— have come and gone. Mr. Makemie has cast his 
lot with these brave exiles for life, resolved to become 
an American. 

And yet we are uneasy. The persecutions of his 
friends in Europe hang heavily upon his heart, every 
letter that crosses the ocean showing their condition 
to be worse, the cry of their afflictions louder. Their 
churches are closed, their lives in danger ; the entire 
Presbytery of Laggan are pursued with such implac- 
able fury that a majority of the ministers of Donegal 
and Derry have made known to the Presbytery of 
Antrim their intention of coming to America *' because 
of persecutions and general poverty abounding in these 
parts, and on account of their straits and little or no ac- 
cess to their ministry." * Some have fled to Scotland, 
only to find the situation worse. There the year has 
opened with four judicial murders, and the South and 
the West flow with blood. f This year is called by pre- 
eminence " the kiUing-time." It is difficult to imagine 
how malignity and cruelty can reach a wilder riot. 

Mr. Makemie is burdened with these increasing 
horrors, and longs to find homes to which he may 
invite the sufferers. Here there is too great poverty 
among the Presbyterians to support even one min- 
ister. He refuses to contract for any stipulated 
salary, accepting only voluntary offerings from those 
whom he knows to be able to give.| He is evidently 
purposing to visit the other colonies and see if there 
may not be wider fields and a surer support for the 

*Reid, ii. 341. f Wodrow, iv., chap, viii. 

I Makemie's Answer to Keith. 



104 'THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1684. 

refugees. My father says he has a mind and heart 
comprehensive enough to embrace the continent in 
his plans. But what shall ive now do without the 
bread of life from his lips ? How lonely the Eastern 
Shore without him ! 

This year our Assembly at St. Mary's have again 
been at work upon the towns, changing the one on 
Wicomico River — of which the space was too limited 
— to a point *' at or near a parcel of land in that river 
on the land which was formerly William Wright's." 
Another has been located " at or near Tipquin, south 
side of the Nanticoke," and still another "at some 
convenient place between the going in of Selby's Bay 
and Cornelius Jones's land in Assateague Bay on the 
seaboard side."* The legislature seems to expect that 
our county will be crowded with cities some day and 
full of the world's commerce. Already in the autumn 
and early winter the little sloops and ketches are seen 
threading the many streams, trafficking for tobacco, 
furs and pork, and bringing to the plantation-stores 
goods from Europe, New England and the West 
Indies. 

Mr. Makemie watches all these public movements 
carefully, regarding them not only from a commercial 
but a missionary standpoint. He says : 

" In remote and scattered settlements we can never enjoy so 
fully, frequently and certainly those privileges and opportunities 
as are to be had in all Christian towns and cities. For by reason 
of bad weather or other accidents, ministers are prevented and 
people are hindered to attend and so disappoint one another. 
But in towns congregations are never wanting and children and 
servants never are without opportunity of hearing, who cannot 
travel many miles to hear and be catechised." 

* Laws of the province for 1684. 



A. D. 1684.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. lOJ 

It is pleasant to note Mr. Makemie's interest in the 
religious culture of children and servants. The cate- 
chising of Scotland and Ulster he longs to see trans- 
planted to American soil. He continues: 

"It is a melancholy consideration how many came very 
ignorant of rehgion to the plantations and by removing to re- 
mote settlements have been neglected by others and, careless of 
themselves, continue grossly ignorant of many necessary parts 
of the Christian religion. And many natives, born in ignorant 
families, and by distance, seldom hear a sermon." * 

Mr. Makemie is gathering the people at every avail- 
able centre, encouraging and compacting them for per- 
manent organization. The boundary-troubles with 
Mr. Penn take Lord Baltimore to Europe this year, 
and he appoints Colonel Stevens one of his deputy 
lieutenants. This promotion secures the judge still 
wider influence and gives greater prominence to the 
plantation and the new town. The wealth and char- 
acter of Colonel Jenkins, Sheriff White and others in 
that section, will help to make Rehoboth the leading 
church — the Mecca — of Presbyterianism. 

The sweet Maryland springtime is all about us — the 
woods glad with blossoms, the air pulsating with bird- 
songs. The river is strewn with boats, the horse-roads 
with riders. The breezes come all the way from the 
salt waters, gathering the balms of the forests in their 
censers. 

" The gummy Pine 
Does cheerful with unsully'd verdure shine ; 
The Dogwood flowers assume a snowy white, 
The Maple blushing gratifies the light ; 
No verdant leaves the lovely Red Bud grace, 
Carnation blossoms now supply their Place ; 

* Makemie's Plain and Friendly Perswasive. 



I06 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1684. 

The Sassafras unfolds its fragrant Bloom, 

The Vine affords an exquisite Perfume ; 

These grateful Scents wide wafting through the air 

The swelling Sense with balmy Odors cheer. 

And now the birds sweet singing stretch their Throats 

And in one choir unite their various Notes ; 

Nor yet unpleasing is the Turtle's voice 

Though he complains while other Birds rejoice. 

These vernal Joys all restless thoughts controul 

And gently soothing calm the troubled soul " (27). 

There are troubled souls, for we cannot forget that 
the time has come at last and our minister is going 
away. " Only for a while," says the deputy lieutenant, 
who seems determined to cheer us. " Only for a 
while," says my father, whose trust in God never 
fails. The faith of some of us is not so strong, for 
we remember the former months of waiting, and are 
sad. 

The interest of the occasion is intensified by the 
last administration of both sacraments before our min- 
ister leaves us. While the Quakers reject and de- 
nounce the two holy ordinances as copied from Rome, 
and while our friends can celebrate them in Europe 
only at the risk of having their own blood mingled 
with the water and the wine, it is a blessed boon for 
these ends of the earth to be able to sit around the 
table of our Lord without molestation, and to bring 
the children of the covenant and offer them tg Jesus 
through the appointed symbol. 

The woods-paths echo with the prattle of the Mary- 
land babies. Are these to be the founders of a new 
empire ? Yes ; the household covenant is taking root 
— the promises sure to a thousand generations. What 
fantastic garbs ! What wise little faces ! and how im- 



A. D. 1684.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. lO/ 

portant these pioneers of millions yet to be ! Mr. 
Makemie said : 

" It is the same baptism the disciples and apostles performed in 
all and every church where they preached the gospel according 
to that last command of our Lord's immediately before his 
ascension — 'Go teach and baptize all nations,' and ' Lo, I am 
with you alway.' 

" Three things are observable in this text. First, That teaching 
of nations, yea, all nations, by external means and instruments is 
a standing and perpetual ordinance in .the Church of Christ to the 
end of the world. Second, That as many as are called ministers 
of the gospel are also commissionated to baptize also — ' Go teach 
all nations, baptizing them.' Third, That water baptism or the ex- 
ternal ordinance, is that enjoined or commanded in the words, 
and not the baptism with the Holy Ghost and with fire. For it 
is enjoined to mere men who can do no more than John could 
do who professed he baptized with water. The outward mean, 
ordinance and administration was from John ; and the fruit, 
efficacy and blessing was from Jesus Christ. It is bold impu- 
dence and arrogant presumption for any to pretend to baptize 
with the Holy Ghost and with fire, which is Christ's peculiar work 
and prerogative." 

Rejecting and assailing all outward rites, the disci- 
ples of John Fox claim to confer the spiritual baptism. 
Our minister proceeded : 

"We who use the outward mean, instrument and ordinance,' 
may be — through the blessing of God and efficacious presence 
of Christ's Spirit — and undoubtedly are, made instruments of the 
inward grace, life and advantage of that ordinance. But how 
those can be instruments of baptizing spiritually who are opposite 
to and ridicule the outward ordinance which is the only proper 
means and instrument of God's own appointment, I can not re- 
solve unless they take God's place, by working without means 
and contrary to means ; or unless they imagine to work effects 
by unsuitable causes and attain an end by improper means. As 
if a man intend to merchandize by laboring in the ground, or 
intend for Europe from America and yet steer to the South, or 
by planting tobacco to imagine to reap corn." * 

^ Makemie's Answer to Keith. 



I08 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1684. 

The young Marylanders are brought forward, and 
out of a bowl of clear water taken from the Pocomoke, 
the beautiful symbol falls upon their infant brows. I 
hear the names of two little boys called for the deputy 
lieutenant — Stevens White and William Stevens How- 
ard, the former a nephew of our friend, and the latter a 
son of his nearest neighbor.* 

After a precious sermon of two hours' length — only 
too short to those who know not when they may hear 
another — the Supper of our Lord is spread, and the 
communicants, their tokens in hand, gather about the 
table. We thought of fellow-communicants in the 
dens and caves of the Old World. It is sad that, 
while Prelacy would there wrest it from them by 
sword and duress vile, fanaticism in this free land 
should depreciate and despise the holy rite. 

" Christian experience witnesseth against them," said 
Mr. Makemie, " and confutes all their quibbling argu- 
ments and sophistical quirks." 

Our minister seldom speaks of himself We watch 
for any word throwing light upon the inner life of the 
man — this new voice crying in the wilderness. Many 
hearts responded when he said, 

" My own experience of the grace, blessing and benefits of 
this great, special, and solemn ordinance, shall be an unan- 
swerable argument to me against all heretics in the world." f 

The delightful day ended, and soon we awoke to the 
fact that he was gone — gone to Virginia and the Caro- 
linas. A little group of us sit in the graveyard of the 
Rehoboth plantation, as if mourning at the grave of 

* Babes of that day : Somerset records, 
f Extracts from Answer to Keith, 



A. D. 1684.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. IO9 

our Presbyterian hopes. Yonder lies the dust of the 
brother of the judge, yonder the little babe Frances 
White, buried last year, and other sleepers are all 
around us. Here we sit — Peggy, the blue-eyed maid 
of Ulster ; Mary, the rosy Scotch lassie ; Margaret, 
the soft-toned singer of the Vincennes; Naomi, the 
young Virginia beauty — and we talk together of the 
planted vine, and of the frost which has fallen to nip 
it even in the bright Maryland springtime. Shall we 
who have come from so many lands sleep together in 
these Western graveyards, dust to dust, and no minis- 
ter to offer a prayer at the bedside and at the burial ? 
The hope of our Presbyterian colonists seems to have 
been as frail as the little Frances lying beneath the 
hillock at our feet, dying within a year of her birth. 

These thoughts are too gloomy. We go together 
and look at the vine, and we see that it has taken root 
deeply and shows no signs of blight. The label is 
still on it — " 1683." We know that there are offshoots 
from it at Snow Hill and on the Monokin and on the 
Wicomico. 

After a while there came news from Mr. Makemie. 
He had gone down the great bay to Elizabeth River, 
and there preached to a mixed congregation of Dis- 
senters, composed of Independents and Presbyterians, 
who lost their minister by death last year. Congre- 
gationalism had found an early home in Virginia, but 
it soon became one of storms. Henry Jacob, who 
established the first Independent church in England, 
came over to Virginia in 1624 to preach to his core- 
ligionists, and died there. Their numbers increased 
in Nansemond county and on Elizabeth River, until, 
in 1643, a petition for ministers was sent to Boston 



I lO THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1684. 

signed by seventy-four names. Among the rest was 
that of Captain Daniel Gookins, a man prominent in 
Virginia, Maryland, and New England history. Three 
ministers were sent, but they were discountenanced by 
the government. The chaplain, Rev. Thomas Harri- 
son, incited the opposition, and the three ministers 
finally departed. Then came the Indian massacre in 
April, 1644, and under that shock Harrison himself, 
taking it as a judgment of God for sin, repented of his 
bigotry, became a Nonconformist and preached to the 
Independents in Nansemond and at Elizabeth River. 
In 1648 he states that his church numbers one hun- 
dred and eighteen communicants, and that nearly a 
thousand persons sympathize with their order of wor- 
ship. But Governor Berkeley is aroused, secures an 
act of Assembly prohibiting all worship except with 
the use of the Prayer-book, and orders Harrison to 
leave Virginia. The Puritans are pursued with rigor, 
until they contract with Lord Baltimore for liberty of 
conscience, and during these years (1648, 1649) most- 
ly remove to Maryland.* 

Remnants of these former churches Mr. Makemie 
finds about Elizabeth River. Their late minister was 
from Ireland. They would have Mr. Makemie to stay, 
but he perseveres in his purpose, and presses on to 
North Carolina. Thence he embarks for the South- 
ern province, but is caught in a storm and driven 
back northward. God did not mean that he should 
get so far away from us. The boisterous wind forced 
the laboring bark far up along the Maryland beaches, 
as if to remind him of those he had left behind. But 
I will let him tell it in his own words : 

* Neill's Terra Maries, p. 74, etc. ; Founders of Maryland, p. 109, etc. 



A. D. 1684.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. Ill 

" Reverend and Dear Brother : I wrote to you, though 
unacquainted, by Mr. Lamb, from North Carolina, of my de- 
signe for Ashley River, South Carolina, which I was so forward 
in attempting that I engaged in a voyage and went to sea in the 
month of May, but God in his providence saw fit I should not 
see it at the time, for we were tosst upon the coast by contrary 
winds, and to the North as far as Delaware Bay, so that, falling 
short in our provisions, we were necessitated, after several essays 
to the South, to Virginia ; and, in the meanwhile. Colonel An- 
thony Lawson and other inhabitants of the parish of Lynnhaven, 
in lower Norfolk county (who had a dissenting minister from 
Ireland, until the Lord was pleased to remove him by death in 
August last; among whom I preached before I went to the 
South, in coming from Maryland, against their earnest impor- 
tunity), coming so pertinently in the place of our landing for 
water, prevailed with me to stay this season ; which the more 
easily overcame me, considering the season of the year and the 
little encouragement from Carolina, from the sure information I 
have had. But for the satisfaction of my friends in Ireland, 
whom I design to be very cautious in inviting to any place in 
America I have yet seen, I have sent one of our number to ac- 
quaint me further concerning the place. I am here assured of 
liberty and other encouragements, resolving to submit myself to 
the sovereign providence of God, who has been pleased so un- 
expectedly to drive me back to this poor, desolate people, among 
whom I design to continue till God in his providence determine 
otherwise concerning me. 

'• I have presumed a second before I can hear how acceptable 
my first has been. I hope this will prevent your writing to Ash- 
ley River, and determine your resolution to direct your letters to 
Colonel Anthony Lawson, at the Eastern Branch of Elizabeth 
River. I expect if you have an opportunity of writing to Mr. 
John Hart, you will acquaint him concerning me ; which, with 
your prayers, will oblige him who is your dear and affectionate 
brother in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus" (28). 

So speaks the brave pioneer, and so speaks his 
theology. To him there is no chance in the blowing 
of the winds or the veering of the vessel. His love 
is yet warm and considerate for his "friends " in Ireland, 
but no less so for the " poor, desolate " Christians in 



!I2 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1684. 

America. He wants still to be remembered by Mr. 
Hart of Derry, and he is stretching forth the hand of 
Christian affection to Increase Mather, the foremost 
man of New England. 

And now, while we mourn and are disconsolate, and 
while Mr. Makemie shrinks from recommending to 
the ministry of Ulster that they shall face upon our 
destitute shores the hardships which he himself en- 
dures, the same sovereign God whom he serves has 
been preparing better things for us than the strongest 
faith had dreamed. 

Shall I ever forget the hour ? We had been spend- 
ing the day in colonial social fashion at the house 
of Colonel Jenkins, on the farm just below the new 
Rehoboth town. The colonel and the attractive Mis- 
tress Mary are greatly in love with Mr. Makemie, and 
are still deploring his loss. For an hour we had been 
watching a merchant-vessel working her way up the 
curves of the river. We walked down to the shore, 
launched the little boat and went out to visit the 
trader — a common habit along these streams. They 
drop anchor opposite the town — now a legal place of 
import — and await our coming. Passing on board, we 
find ourselves among a number of immigrants and are 
examining some of the silks, Hollands, serges and 
broadcloths,* when I catch the names " Davis," 
" Wilson," "Trail." They are inquiring for the home 
of Colonel Stevens. The third name specially attracts 
my attention because of what I have recorded of the 
persecutions of Mr. William Trail in Ireland. Was 
this a relative of his ? 

I saw a man of noticeable presence, of over forty 

* Alsop's Chaj-acter of the Province of Marylaiid^ p. 68. 



A. D. 1684] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. II3 

years of age — But I need not protract the recital. 
This was Wilham Trail himself, the incarcerated 
clerk of the Presbytery of Laggan — the brave man 
who had stood before Ormond and the chancellor and 
the archbishop in the castle of Dublin — now sent of 
God to those who are sighing for the bread of life on 
our Eastern shore. The hero of our dreams is here — 
here to preach the gospel for which he has suffered 
bonds ! And here, too, are these others, the Master 
sending us three of his heralds in the footsteps of our 
county's first evangelist (29). We escort them ashore 
and see them safely upon the Maryland soil. Widely 
flies the news with the wings of the wind, and again 
the Presbyterian heart is thrilled. Three ministers at 
Rehoboth next Sabbath ! 

That Sabbath was indeed an high day. Rouse's 
psalm arose : 

" I joy'd when to the house of God 
' Go up,' they said to me ; 
Jerusalem, within thy gates 
our feet shall standing be." 

Certainly it looks as if God means that our Church 
shall be firmly planted in the Western world, and that 
just here is to be the favored centre from which its 
doctrines are to radiate abroad. 

That night I heard my father quoting the strict 
rules for ordination adopted by the Church in Ireland 
in 1672 : 

"After the intrant hath given distinct and positive answers to 
the questions usually proposed for showing his soundness in the 
faith and adhering to the truth professed in the Reformed 
Churches against Popery, Arminianism, Prelacy, Erastianism, 

8 



114 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1684. 

Independency, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine 
and the power of godhness." 

I know of what my father was thinking. Mr. Trail 
had been ordained over the congregation at Lifford 
the very year those rules were adopted. God is order- 
ing that the pure seed sown by Makemie shall be 
watered and cultured by safe hands — by one of the 
very men who had trained Makemie for the sacred 
office. 

This year of momentous events went out with a 
marriage performed by our new minister. Mr. Davis 
has already officiated in a like ceremony since his 
arrival in the province. 

Christmas has come and gone, and the colonists are 
still in the midst of the holidays, which they protract 
over New Year's. The big logs of oak and hickory 
are prepared for the large fireplaces ; the nuts have 
been gathered and stored as carefully as the squirrels 
hoard them; the yellow pones are yellower than ever; 
the cider has been nicely boiled and kept untapped till 
now;* the hominy-mortar has been busy, and the 
largest pot is full , and hunters have been to the 
woods and made sure of the venison hams ; and most 
of us are rejoicing in our new shoes and gowns. 

During the cold season there is but little work. 
Even the servants are almost free. As said George 
Alsop eighteen years ago : 

" In the Winter time, which lasteth three months, they do httle 
or no work or imployment, save cutting of wood to make good 
fires to sit by ; unless their Ingenuity will prompt them to hunt 
the Deer or Bear or recreate themselves in Fowling, to slaughter 
Swans, Geese and Turkeys (which this country affords in a most 
plentifuU manner) : For every servant has a Gun, Powder and 

* Boiled cider : Somerset records. 



A. D. 1684.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE, II5 

Shot allowed him, to sport him withall on all Holidayes and 
leasurable time, if he be capable of using it or be wilHng to 
learn." 

During Christmas week this exemption from labor 
is enjoyed by all classes. On Friday the 26th of 
December, came the marriage — Mr. William Banes to 
Miss Anne Phesey. The cabin is full of guests, some 
sitting on beds, some on puncheons split from trees, 
some standing in the corners. The broad chimney, 
half across the end of the house, roars with the great 
Yule-logs. The cold blasts out-doors help to make 
the flames brisker and louder. Somerset has already 
begun the manufacture of woolen goods,* our county 
leading the continent. Here, to-night, we see these 
fabrics worn by the gay company and the bride and 
groom — the padded coats and short-clothes, the fanci- 
ful gowns and striped petticoats— for our weavers and 
cordwainers and the busy needles have been preparing 
for the wedding for many weeks. 

The banns had been duly published at the court- 
house door, and soon the broad Scotch accents of Mr. 
Trail pronounced them husband and wife. 

There is nothing in this new clime to stop the story 
of love, and hearts are wooed and won among the 
whisperings of the pine trees as sweetly as by the 
wells of Laban. 

* Provincial Records, McMahon, p. 275. 



CHAPTER VI. 
A. D. 1685. 

" The true Christian, in all states of life, whether in prosperity or 
adversity, in fulness or in want, in sickness or in health, in suffering 
or liberty, under reproaches or in good report, under enjoyment or 
want of religious privileges ; is furnished with graces answerable, and 
exercises them suitably and agreeably — so as his whole life should 
shine with them as a light in a dark place." — Makemie. 

MR. TRAIL and his wife, Mistress Elinor, have 
been with us to make some purchases at one 
of our plantation-stores. Our guests are much amused 
at our currency. The new minister is a man of de- 
lightful humor — as was shown at his examination in 
Dublin Castle — and he sees the comical side of colo- 
nial life readily. He has heard the nauseous tobacco- 
plant called the meat, drink, clothing and money of the 
province,* and he enjoyed seeing us make our various 
purchases, some of which, unknown to him, were for 
his own cabin-home. 

Let me preserve some of the items of our bill and 
the prices, paid in pounds of tobacco : 

Lbs. 

4 ounces thread 20 

6 doz. glass buttons 25 

2 pair stockings 40 

I pair man's shoes 45 

I pair gloves 15 

* British Empire in America, i. 343. 
116 



A. D. 1 685-] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. \\J 

Lbs. 

3 combs 24 

I pair woman's shoes 35 

I pair woman's shoes 60 

3 hats 150 

4 pair tongs 24 

16 yds. linen 400 

I tin sass pan 12 

I looking glass 5 

1 knife 10 

2 hanks thread 1 6 

Large ivory comb 30 

I pound candle wick 20 

\y^ yard broad ribbon 30 

I ell broad linen 30 

** Yes, meat and drink indeed," said Mr. Trail as we 
paid for these further articles : 

Lbs. 
24 eggs 6 



bushel wheat 



30 



I large quarter mutton 40 

12 pounds salted beef 12 

1 turkey cock 30 

2 turkey hens 14 

I gallon rum 40 * 

Taxes are assessed in tobacco; Colonel Stevens's 
salary is paid in tobacco ; our planters around Reho- 
both, Monokin and Snow Hill are raising subscriptions 
for Mr. Trail, Mr. Wilson and Mr. Davis in tobacco. 

Mr. Trail tells us that early in the century Pope 
Urban VIII. fulminated the anathemas of the Church 
against the potent American weed, and that the pres- 
ent pope. Innocent XL, is doing the same. In Russia 
the noses of smokers have been cut off by law, and in 
Turkey, under Sultan Amuret, their heads. In his 

* Actual bills from Somerset records of 1685, 1686 and 1687. 



Il8 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1685. 

Counterblast to Tobacco — one of the most sensible 
things that ever emanated from a Stuart king — James 
I. denounced its use as " a custom loathsome to the 
eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, danger- 
ous to the lungs, and, in the black stinking fumes 
thereof, nearest resembling the horrible Stygian smoke 
of the pit that is bottomless." 

The conquering plant grows on, still gaining upon 
the world, defying the authority of king and sultan 
and czar and pope, and wielding over its enslaved sub- 
jects a power as despotic as theirs. To prevent the 
culture of this plant from crowding out necessary 
staples, our law compels every planter of tobacco to 
till at least two acres of corn. This wise policy is 
making our province the granary of New England. 

We are rather glad when the planting-time has 
come, the winter passed away ; for, with all help of 
Somerset woolens and furs, we cannot keep from 
shivering sometimes in our unheated churches. Gath- 
ering early from our boats and horses at the nearest 
houses, where the great fires are prepared on purpose, 
we thaw snugly through and prepare to defy the winds 
that howl over the forests and whistle around the log 
meeting-houses for entrance. Here and there the im- 
portunate blast comes in stinging. We young people 
can only crowd closer together or nestle to the side of 
our mothers. 

The staunch, hardy Presbyterian fathers sit the long 
service through unmoved by the cold, unconscious of 
discomfort, invulnerable. Some of these have wor- 
shiped in open moors or freezing glens, in rain and 
storm, finding the rigors of the elements more mer- 
ciful than the hatred of Sharp and Claverhouse, In 



A. D. i685.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. II9 

comparison, the severest blasts of Pocomoke, Mono- 
kin and Wicomico are mild and full of the love of 
God. 

During these spring months there has come to us 
important news from across the sea, an earless, ema- 
ciated, impoverished exile' bringing the tidings and 
the exemplification. In Galloway he has seen the 
bodies of the six men who were shot for no crime 
but prayer. He was not far away when a sick man 
was dragged from his bed and butchered at his own 
door in the presence of his family. Himself hunted 
down, refusing to take the hated oath, thrown into 
the crowded Bass, the barbarous shears of the ex- 
ecutioner cutting his ears close to his head, life 
spared only on condition of banishment and slavery, 
— he has been driven to our shores and sits with us 
in our little church. How kindly our ministers grasp 
the hand of these persecuted countrymen ! We are 
told that the brutal acts of the council last year were 
instigated and approved by proclamations from the 
Palace in London.* 

In a day or two comes other news. On Sabbath, 
the 1st of February, while these horrors are at their 
height in the North, the profligate Charles is reveling 
in luxury and sin. Says an eye-witness : 

" I can never forget the inexpressible luxury and profaneness, 
gaming and all dissoluteness, and as it were total forgetfulness 
of God (it being Sunday evening) which this day sinnight I was 
witness of; the King sitting and toying with his concubines, 
Portsmouth, Cleveland, Mazarine, etc. ; a French boy singing 
love songs in that glorious gallery ; whilst about twenty of the 

* See Wodrow, iv. 182, etc. The "Bass" — often mentioned in 
these days — was the state-prison of the Bass Rock, off the eastern 
coast of Scotland. 



I20 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1685. 

great courtiers and other dissolute persons were at basset round 
a large table, a bank of at least two thousand in gold before 
them, upon which two gentlemen who were with me made re- 
flections with astonishment. Six days after, all was in the dust.""^ 

Such were the Sabbaths in the palace while the 
solemn old Presbyterian Sabbaths were made heret- 
ical and treasonable. On Monday the king was taken 
very ill, and on Friday, at noon, he passed to the 
judgment-bar of God. There are reports that he 
was poisoned. Much is said about a new and fa- 
mous American remedy administered to him — the 
noted "Jesuit's powder," which some physicians de- 
clare a medicine fit only for kings.f At length the 
fact is established that this base monarch, who has 
so long persecuted the Nonconformists in his three 
kingdoms because of his pretended zeal for the Church 
of England, was all the time a Papist at heart. In dy- 
ing he refused to receive the sacrament from any but 
the hands of a Romish priest.| 

Well may Mr. Makemie say of the schemes of 
Popery : 

" It deserves to be bewailed that in all their Jesuitical intrigues 
and evil designs, they soon found too many Protestant tools un- 
advisedly to concur with such sworn enemies of the Reforma- 
tion." | 

Mr. Trail has been telling us of the sufferings of his 
father, one of the first Scotchmen to feel the ingrati- 
tude and treachery of Charles after the Restoration. 
The Rev. Robert Trail had opposed the schemes of 
Cromwell, had been besieged in the castle of Edin- 
burgh, had been wounded while defending the rights 

■5^ Evelyn's Diary, p. 467, f Quinine. Evelyn's Diary, p. 559. 
\ Macaulay, i. 342. \ Makemie's Truths in a True Light, 



A. D. 1685.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 121 

of Charles II., and had co-operated zealously with 
the Presbyterians of Scotland in bringing him back 
to the throne. In 1660, when the future course of 
Charles in forgetting all his pledges and his benefac- 
tors began to be foreshadowed, the father of our pastor 
committed the grievous offence of uniting in a respect- 
ful address to the king, reminding him of his promises 
and pleading for the rights of the Church. For this 
he and others were thrown into prison. From that 
prison his fellow-sufferer James Guthrie was never 
released until released by martyrdom. Then began 
that flow of blood not yet ceased. 

In 1 66 1, Robert Trail was brought before Parlia- 
ment and made an eloquent defence, declaring what 
he had endured for the king, vindicating his loyalty, 
but asserting fearlessly the liberties of the country 
and of the Church. Our Mr. Trail, the eldest son of 
the accused, was then just twenty-one years old, a 
graduate of the university three years before, and 
himself looking forward to the dangerous office of 
the gospel ministry. Thus had he reached manhood, 
surrounded by the solicitudes of the Edinburgh par- 
ish for their pastor's safety and sharing the anxieties 
of mother and children for the life of husband and 
father. 

Sent back to prison from that brave defence, about 
a fortnight after Mr. Guthrie had been led out to exe- 
cution, the father wrote : 

"We are waiting from day to day what men will do with us ; 
we are expecting banishment at the best, but our sentence must 
proceed from the Lord ; and whatsoever it be, it shall be good 
as from him, and whithersoever he shall send us, he will be with 
us and shall let us know that the earth is his and the fullness 
thereof." 



122 THE DAYS OF MAKE M IE. [A. D. 1685. 

He was liberated for a while, but sent away from his 
church in Edinburgh. Again, for expounding Script- 
ure at family worship, he was arrested and banished 
from the kingdom at sixty years of age. Afterward 
he returned from Holland and laid his bones in his 
native land.* 

Our minister has a younger brother, Robert, also a 
sufferer from the tyranny of the deceased king. Be- 
cause of the obstacles in Scotland, William and Rob- 
ert went to London for licensure in 1670. Eight years 
ago a tool of the government was paid a large reward 
for arresting the brother, charged with preaching at 
conventicles, and he was brought before the council. 
Standing firmly upon the rights of conscience, he was 
sent to the prison of the Bass. Thus have this godly 
family been pursued and wronged. All these things 
interest us here, showing of what stock has come our 
Eastern-Shore Presbyterianism. 

And now the wicked king is gone to his reward ! 
The victims of his cruelty are around us. In view of 
all that has come since, we think in sadness of the 
prayer of Mr. Robert Trail before Parliament twenty- 
four years ago : 

" That he who is set over men may be just, ruling in the fear 
of God ; that his reign may be long and prosperous and a bless- 
ing to these lands ; that when he shall have fulfilled his days 
and laid by his earthly crown, he may receive a greater and 
better which fadeth not away but is eternal in the heavens." 

With no mean pride the exiled son stood upon the 
banks of our little river and told of the staunch old 
champion of the Covenant. The king too had taken 
that Covenant. We felt the grandeur of character of 

* See Wodrow, \., passim. 



A. D. 1685.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 1 23 

the man of God towering far above faithless royalty. 
Just from the burial of Charles II., one writes in Eng- 
land : *' He is soon forgotten after all his vanity." * 

Now another Stuart is on the throne. Both Non- 
conformists and Conformists have reason to await the 
future with apprehension. There was no Bible at the 
coronation. For the first time in one hundred and 
twenty-seven years the rites of the Church of Rome 
have been publicly paraded at Westminster. James II. 
is a Papist undisguised. Yet the High Tories and 
Churchmen are playing the sycophant. The Papists 
in our province are said to be much elated. This will 
not lessen the feeling against them among the prepon- 
derating Protestant elements. It is said that the com- 
mercial Company of Maryland Merchants in London 
have obsequiously pledged themselves to pay the cus- 
toms exacted by the illegal edict of the new king.f 

In our own circle we have had a death and burial 
of some note. Mr. John White, a cousin and brother- 
in-law of Colonel Stevens, has passed away, and now 
lies in the graveyard near the residence of the deputy 
lieutenant. Mr. White was one of the original county 
judges appointed at the time of its organization. He 
was high sheriff when he died. Of course there was 
a great concourse at the funeral. The Maryland 
breezes sighed along the river-banks as if in sympathy 
with the widow and fatherless. My sister and I min- 
gled our tears with the weeping daughters, Tabitha, 
Priscilla and Sarah. These burials are not so dreary 
as before the ministers came.J 

* Evelyn's Diary, February 14. f Macaulay, i. 371, 374. etc. 

% Date of death, place of burial, family, etc., of White, from the 
Somerset records. 



124 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1685. 

We have heard from Mr. Makemie ; he is still 
preaching at Elizabeth River. Our loss was their 
gain, and he knows that we now no longer need him. 
Poor and far from libraries, he is getting his supply of 
books from distant New England. These sometimes 
miscarry. He is corresponding with God's ministers, 
from South Carolina to Massachusetts. On the 22d 
of July he writes to Increase Mather : 

" Honoured Sir : Yours I received by Mr. Hallet with three 
books, and am not a little concerned that those sent to Ashley- 
River were miscarried, for which I hope it will give no offence to 
declare my willingness to satisfy ; for there is no reason they 
should be lost to you, and far less that the gift should be [word 
illegible], for which I own myself your debtor. And assure 
yourself if you have any friend in Virginia, to find me ready 
to receive your commands. I have wrote to Mr. Wardrope, and 
beg you be pleased to order the safe conveyance thereof unto his 
hands. I have also wrote to Mr. Thomas Barret, a minister who 
lived in South Carolina, who, when he wrote to me from Ashley 
River, was to take shipping for New England. So that I con- 
clude that he is with you. But, if there be no such man in the 
country, let nie letter be returned. I am yours in the Lord 
Jesus." * 

So, in his far isolation, he stretches out his hands for 
books and for companionship with his brother-minis- 
ters ! The absence of all mail conveniences, and the 
irregularity of our coast trade, make such commu- 
nication very uncertain and infrequent and deepen the 
feeling of loneliness. Here we have a miniature Pres- 
bytery within ourselves, and the ministers have pleas- 
ant days of mutual help and joy. 

Mr. Davis is working on our river at a point which 
persists in growing into a town regardless of the act 
of Assembly locating it on Burrow's land, farther up 

* Autograph leUer, Massachusetts Historical Society. 



A. D. 1685.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 1 25 

the stream.* This settlement has been forming on 
the estate of Mr. Henry Bishop, on a sandy elevation 
near the Pocomoke, and the little village is taking the 
name of " Snow Hill." Mr. Bishop formerly lived in 
the Virginia counties, below, and is a man of large 
property, owning thousands of acres (twenty-three hun- 
dred) on Bocketenorton Bay, and many acres elsewhere 
in the county. Mr. Adam Spence — now twenty-three 
years of age and related to the persecuted Spences of 
Scotland — has his home there and is assisting in the 
development of the church. Mr. Makemie had not 
been slow in discovering fit locations for churches 
and eligible material out of which to construct God's 
spiritual temples (30). 

Mr. Wilson is watching over our little flocks on the 
Monokin and the Wicomico. The Browns, the Er- 
skines, the Galbraiths, the Fontaines, the Bostons and 
the Kings are earnest helpers in those regions. The 
offshoots from our Rehoboth vine are producing fruit- 
ful clusters all over the large county. They are glori- 
ous days when at communion seasons the ministers all 
meet and help one another in several days' service, 
and when the colonists come to the tables from bay- 
side to seaboard. The ministers, then in their dark- 
blue sacramental gowns and white bands, present to 
me a more solemn appearance than ever. 

Mr. Trail is winning upon us all, passing among the 
people as a kind spiritual adviser, assuming no superi- 
or dignity, asserting no ecclesiastical prerogative. The 
cavil of the Quakers against all ordained preachers, as 
priests and tyrants, is utterly disconcerted by his ge- 
nial ways. I heard him say to my father the other 

* Provincial records. 



126 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1685, 

day, while speaking of pastoral and Presbyterial 

usage : 

"We forbear all words of power and authority. Whatever 
authority we may claim as ministers of the Gospel, we common- 
ly waive that. And as Paul said to Philemon, ' Though I might 
be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient, 
yet for love's sake I rather beseech thee,* so we, whatever power 
we have as ministers to command, yet for prudence' sake we rath- 
er beseech."* 

A letter from my friend William. I tremble as I 
read it ; if intercepted in England, it would have been 
his death. He declares that the new king is the worst 
of the Stuarts — a cool, deliberate, cruel tyrant and a 
tool of Rome. From the beginning his pretended 
clemency to Protestants has been belied by the in- 
creased fury of the persecutions in Scotland — talking 
of toleration in England, but at that v^\y time asking 
and obtaining from the servile Parliament in Edinburgh 
more horrible penal laws against the Covenanters. 
Says one of his victims, 

" Now, Isabel, the hour is come that I told you 
would come when I first spoke to you of marriage." 

The brains of the godly John Brown are blown out 
by Claverhouse in the presence of the poor wife, one 
child in her arms and another clinging to her knees. 
The maiden-martyr Margaret Wilson breathes out 
her heroic life in the tides of Blednock, brutally tan- 
talized by the executioners with the death-struggles 
of the older Margaret, who had been placed farther 
out in order to intimidate the youthful martyr from 
her constancy. 

" What do I see," she says, " but Christ in one of 
his members wrestling there?" 

* Examination at Dublin Castle, Reid, ii. 581. 



A. D. 1685.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 12/ 

Then she quotes from the eighth chapter of Romans 
until her triumphant voice is choked by the rising 
waves. "Many waters cannot quench love," is Wil- 
liam's comment. 

My friend goes on to tell of Argyle's insurrection 
in Scotland and that of Monmouth in England, of the 
utter failure of both, and of the king's making these a 
pretext for more relentless barbarities against our relig- 
ion. North and south, the cry of death or of banishment 
to the plantations is in the air. The " Bloody Assizes," 
under Jeffreys, have had no parallel in history. From 
the judicial bench he cries, 

" There is not one of these lying, sniveling, canting 
Presbyterians but, one way or another, had a hand in 
the rebellion. Presbytery has all manner of villany in 
it. Show me a Presbyterian, and I'll show thee a ly- 
ing knave." 

With such words he adjudges Alice Lyle to be 
burned. 

The king encourages all this. Corpses are dangling 
in chains at every cross-road. Hundreds have been 
transported and sold into slavery. The queen and 
her ladies of honor have become speculators in the 
infamous traffic, causing young girls to be thrown 
into prison in order to exact ransom-money from 
the parents. 

While our rosy lass of Scotland and the blue-eyed 
maid of Ulster are talking with me of this lamentable 
news, the singer of the Vincennes joins the sad group 
with notes no less sad in her tones to-day. The in- 
iquitous price for permission to marry the corrupt 
Madame Maintenon has been paid by Louis XIV. at 
last in the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The 



128 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1685. 

fierce dragonnades are harrowing the homes of God's 
people in France. The Huguenot churches are de- 
moHshed, their ministers sent to the galleys, children 
wrested from their parents, whole districts pillaged, 
thousands slain. All who can do so, are flying to 
foreign countries. 

When we think of Somersetshire, England, with 
her blackened quartered human bodies decorating the 
oaks in every village green, the hideous ornaments on 
every sign-post, the ghastly skulls on every church- 
spire, oh welcome the poverty, the coarse fare, the 
wild beasts, the half-naked savages, in our own 
county of Somerset ! 

I have not told it all. William writes : 

" In February, I saw Mr. Baxter, now seventy years of age, 
brought before the wicked Jeffreys. Those white locks, that 
saintly face, ought to have moved a beast to veneration. All 
the decencies of a trial were utterly forgotten. Jeffreys brow- 
beat the counsel for the defence and would not let them proceed. 
He denounced the prisoner in presence of the Tory jury. The 
old man asked time to prepare his defence. 

" ' Not a minute, to save his life !' howled the infuriated judge. 
' I can deal, with saints as well as sinners. Yonder, out of the 
window, stands Oates on one side of the pillory ; and if Baxter 
stood on the other, the two greatest rogues in the kingdom 
would stand together. This is an old rogue, a schismatical 
knave, a hypocritical villain. I know what you mean by 
bishops: rascals hke yourself— Kidderminster bishops, factious 
sniveling Presbyterians !' 

"As I listened to such words my blood boiled. 

" By these measures Jeffreys obtained a verdict from a jury no 
better than himself, and condemned the grand old man to fine 
and imprisonment. This was in the first month of the reign of 
James II. — an index to all that has come since. I see my own 
Church endorsing this abominable tyranny at the hands of a 
Papist. I too am now a Presbyterian. If these scenes continue, 
I will say so openly and find a home in America." 



CHAPTER VII. 
A. D. 1686. 

" I heartily wish you all Success and Prosperity in laying the Foun- 
dation for the Happiness of you and your Posterity." — Makemie. 

DURING the absence of Mr. Trail, who has been 
helping Mr. Davis at Snow Hill and Mr. Wilson 
on the Monokin, Mrs. Elinor has been staying with 
us ; also my friend Naomi. We maidens have been 
sagely considering how unpleasant it must be to 
occupy the position of a minister's wife — how grand 
and solemn, and then so poor ! We understand that 
Mr. Trail's annual salary at Lififord was only twenty- 
one pounds sterling ; here it is paid in pounds of to- 
bacco instead, and this of little value because of the 
heavy taxes and other restraints on trade. 

Happening to remember certain words copied in my 
journal, I found them, and read as follows : 

" Many are the relative duties of parents and children, husbands 
and wives, masters and servants. If the Christian religion were 
regarded by all ranks and stations, none in the world would be 
compared with them. Therefore it was not a vain nor ground- 
less challenge one of the ancients made, when he challenged 
the world to show so good magistrates and subjects, husbands 
and wuves, parents and children, masters and servants, as the 
Christian religion is able to produce." * 

" So thought Mr. Makemie," I said ; " and if Chris- 
tianity can produce such models anywhere^ it can do 
so in a minister's own household." 

■^ New York sermon : Makemie. 
9 129 



130 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1686. 

Just then Mrs. Trail came in, plainly dressed and 
cheerful. Was not she too one of the founders of 
our American Church ? 

I hear of a startling marvel connected with Mr. 
Trail, and long to ask Mrs. Elinor about it, but have 
not the courage. It seems too sacred and unearthly. 
All such things are more awful in this deep Western 
wilderness, where the woods and streams and bound- 
less regions, filled with wild animals and wilder In- 
dians, are themselves one vast mystery. Sometimes, 
since we heard it, we young people almost feel an 
awe of Mr. Trail. And yet how genial and humorous 
he is, whether in Dublin Castle or on the banks of 
the Pocomoke ! 

Matchacoopah calls him "Atupquonihanque " (*' the 
moon ") and Mrs. Trail " Poomolasuque " (" a star "). 

" Then who is Mr. Makemie ?" we ask. 

His answer is, 

" Wawpaney-Keesequo " (" the daybreak "). 

Shall I tell of a visit made by Naomi and myself 
this year, under the care of Colonel Stevens, to St. 
Mary's ? During the absence of the Proprietary in 
Europe, watching the efforts of Mr. Penn to infringe 
upon the Maryland charter, our friend Stevens spends 
much of his time at the capital across the Chesapeake 
Bay. For the rest of us Eastern Shoremen, secluded 
and obscure, such a visit is an event in our lives. 
Passing from the broad bay into the Potomac River, 
I was full of thoughts of the hour, forty-two years 
ago, when the Ark and Dove rounded into these 
waters and selected the place for our chief city. 
When our pinnace swept around St. George's Island 
into the St. Mary's River, two or three miles wide and 



A. D. 1 686.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. I3I 

bordered with green meadows, the forests rising back 
of them and the hills and cliffs interlacing up the 
stream, my enthusiasm was growing constantly. To 
prevent disappointment, Colonel Stevens read me a 
description of the town written by Lord Baltimore 
to the English Committee of Trade and Plantations 
eight years ago (1678): 

" The principal town or place is called St. Marie's, where the 
generall assembly and provinciall court are kept, and whither 
all shipps trading there do in the first place resort. Butt it can 
hardly be called a town, it beeing in length by the water about 
five myles and in breadth upwards toward the land not above 
one myle ; in all which space, excepting only my own house and 
buildings, wherein the said courts and publique offices are kept, 
there are not above thirty houses, and those at considerable dis- 
tance from each other ; and the buildings (as in other parts of 
the provynce) very mean and little, and generally after the 
manner of the meanest farme houses in England." * 

But, however humble, it is to me the birthplace of 
the province and of the religious liberty we now enjoy 
— religious liberty for which we are indebted to none 
but God alone. Thank the great Head of the Church, 
a Protestant government could not confer upon a Cath- 
olic Proprietary the power to oppress Protestants, nor 
could he ask a Catholic Proprietary to force the Church 
of England upon his fellow-Dissenters. I think of this 
over and over. 

On the lower horn of the crescent-shaped harbor 
stands the dwelling of the Proprietary, built of im- 
ported English brick, its main mansion two stories 
high, its right and left wings extending in various 
rooms and offices on each side. To the eye accus- 
tomed to plantation-life and lowly cabins, this brick 

Rep07-t on Bou7idary-Liiie of Virginia and Maryland. 



132 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1686. 

house, with its armorial bearings and floating pennon, 
appears quite lordly and imposing. Over upon the 
other horn of the crescent stands the State-House, 
built in the form of a cross, walls thick and heavy, 
surmounted by a spire. To me this was a grand 
building, costing twelve years ago (1674) four hun- 
dred and thirty thousand pounds of tobacco.* 

Naomi and I were anxious to see the Lady Mary, 
the favorite of the young people and the patroness of 
our county. As soon as she heard from Colonel 
Stevens of our presence in St. Mary's, she sent a 
gracious message inviting us to the mansion. With 
trepidation we put on our best gowns, petticoats, 
bodices and scarfs, and venture toward those proud 
doors decorated with the escutcheon of the Balti- 
mores. Naomi is beautiful, but, a simple peasant of 
the colony, what am I to do in the presence of nobil- 
ity? A dignified servant in livery receives us and 
ushers us into the great room. I would feel less 
timid on my Chingoteague pony, dashing through 
the homes of bears and wolves on the Eastern 
Shore. 

Another door opens, and the Lady Mary Somerset 
enters, plainly and chastely attired, an engaging smile 
on her home-like face, her hands kindly extended to 
each of us. The little woman dispels our fear in a 
moment. 

" This is a daughter of Leah, and this of Rachel," 
said Colonel Stevens, referring to the book published 
by Mr. Hammond and now lying upon the table; 
"they are close neighbors, and their hearts form a 
bond of amity between the two sister-colonies." 

* McMahon, p. 251. 



A. D. i686.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 1 33 

" It is a pity," said her gentle Ladyship, ** that Colo- 
nel Scarborough and my Uncle Philip had not run 
the divisional line a little farther southward and united 
such loving hearts in one province. But the two 
friends are equally welcome to our home." 

Then the Lady Mary graciously asked many kind 
questions about the county which is to perpetuate her 
name. Were the colonists contented and happy? 
Was the county healthy? Were we ever homesick 
for England? Were the Indians friendly? Was 
the tobacco-crop promising? Was there much en- 
thusiasm for the new king ? Did the settlers up the 
coast toward Hoarkil prefer the Quaker's govern- 
ment or ours? Was there any bitterness against 
her Church? Had the young people many pleas- 
ures ? 

So good and kindly seemed the Lady Mary Somer- 
set that I felt proud of the name. On that side of the 
bay T find far greater feeling against her Church than 
in our own county. The enthronement of a Papist, 
and his open parade of his religion, intensify the 
feeling. The deputy lieutenants are anxious and 
vigilant. 

Colonel Stevens took us over to the State-House to 
see the two legislative bodies now in session — the 
Upper House, composed of the councilors of the 
Proprietary, appointed by himself; the Lower House, 
composed of twenty delegates, two elected by the 
people in each of the ten counties (31). We are 
told that these delegates are very tenacious of the 
rights of the people — that, while loyal to the Proprie- 
tary, they are ready to combat any apparent encroach- 
ment upon the popular franchises. How august they 



134 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1686. 

seem, to us maidens, these stern law-makers of the 
wilderness, here in this capital which but a little while 
ago was the Indian village of Yoacomaco ! Are the 
members of the Parliament now sitting in England — 
Lord Halifax among the Peers or Edward Seymour 
of the Commons — more stately and proud than these ? 

Here are the artificial ringlets falling over the 
shoulders, the richly-embroidered coats of velvet, the 
enormous cuffs full of the great wristbands of lace, 
and the elegant hose reaching far above the knee. 
With these we see all the artificial courtesies of 
courts. Among this class is the imposing president 
of the Council, Mr. William Josephs, one of those 
nine deputies with whom the government has been 
left in commission, and of whom Colonel Stevens is 
one. Here, too, we see the rusty garments of the 
days of Cromwell, and the strong Puritan faces re- 
minding me of the grand old man over on the Sine- 
puxent Neck. Here, too, are plain costumes and 
brusque manners of planters who can neither write 
nor read. 

While this greatness and dignity is almost dazing 
the humble maidens from the Eastern Shore, we are 
aroused to new interest by hearing the law-makers 
talking of our own county. A new town is located 
on Mr. Arnold Elzey's land and the land adjacent at 
Oyster Neck, at the mouth of the Monokin. Then 
we find them talking about our own Pocomoke, and 
after various motions and readings the town located 
three years ago near the head of the river, on Mr. Mor- 
gan's land — commonly called " Burrow's " — is declared 
to be found by experience to be no ways fitting and 
convenient, and is, as they express it, " annulled and 



A. D. 1 686.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 1 35 

untowned " and transferred to Snow Hill, on the land 
formerly belonging to Mr. Henry Bishop, and left to 
his widow, Anne Bishop — the place where Mr. Davis 
is preaching. The law provides that all who have 
already built at Snow Hill shall have the lots upon 
the same terms as others in the government towns — 
an acre given free to any person who will build on it 
a house at least twenty feet square.* Shall not our 
church there also have an acre free of cost ? 

While they are multiplying these towns on paper, I 
recall Mr. Makemie's caution: 

" Beware of overdoing at first, but make a beginning ; for by 
aiming to do all .at once, you may do nothing at all." 

We remain until the festival of St. Ignatius, on the 
31st of July. The day brings great excitement and 
gladness to the Roman Catholics — their chapel adorned 
with evergreens and flowers, secular labor intermitted, 
the colonists in holiday dress, and processions moving 
to the first landing-place of the pilgrims and then back 
to the chapel. Priests lead the procession, and next 
follow reverently the Lady Mary and her retinue. 
Mass is celebrated, and the life and deeds and say- 
ings of Ignatius Loyola form the staple of the 
sermon. 

Notwithstanding the high honors to their "tutelar 
guardian and patron saint," I see evident indications 
of anxiety on the faces of the worshipers. The so- 
licitude is very marked on the sweet, grave coun- 
tenance of the Lady Mary, for the news from Europe 
is of a character to deepen the hatred of the Protest- 
ants without bringing any assurance of royal favor 

■^Provincial records, 1686. 



136 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1686. 

to the Baltimores. Among the Protestant spectators 
I hear mutterings of disapproval and prophecies that 
these scenes will not be always tolerated. 

Colonel Stevens points to a man of sinister look, 
dark and determined, clerical in dress and manner, 
but with features bloated and pimpled by profligacy. 
His eyes are small and full of cunning, his voice is 
low and insinuating, his step is firm but stealthy. 
Wherever he passes he manages to leave a darker 
frown on the brow of the Protestants. This, I am 
told, is John Coode, a clergyman of the Church of 
England, but a man utterly devoid of moral character, 
five years ago under arrest for conspiracy against the 
Proprietary, and still nursing within his heart the bit- 
terest resentment for that indignity. A cutlass hangs 
to his girdle. 

Through the night the firing of cannons is heard in 
repeated salutes to the honor of the Jesuit saint, even 
till the morning dawn. Such is the annual custom, 
but Colonel Stevens thinks that its observance is 
growing dangerous to the peace of the province.* 

Now home again, a traveled maiden, back to the 
quiet of the forests. As a present from the Lady 
Mary Somerset and a token of good-will to the 
county, I bring with me a stampt Persian silk petti- 
coat broidered with lace, worn on a state occasion 
by Her Ladyship, and to be worn hereafter, she says, 
by a certain young maiden on the banks of the Poco- 
mokc on her wedding-day. 

A pleasant piece of news must be recorded here. 
Our minister has determined to make his home 
among us, and has purchased one hundred and 

* Neill's Founders of Mary hud, p. 104. 



A. D. 1 686.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 1 37 

thirty-three acres on the north side of our river, 
only a Httle over a mile below Rehoboth Town. It 
is part of the tract patented by Mark Manlove in 1665 
and called " Son's Choice," afterwards divided, and this 
part called " Brother's Love." A son of the paten- 
tee, of the same name with his father, and now liv- 
ing in Pennsylvania, has sold it to Mr. Trail and signed 
the deed on the 8th of May (32), attested by Thomas 
Newbold, John Winder and James Dashiel. The plan- 
tation adjoins the Jenkins property, bringing our minis- 
ter into pleasant neighborhood and convenient to the 
church he is to serve. The joy of the Presbyterians 
is great. 

My return is in time to be at the house-raising. 
The colonists enjoy large gatherings for social pleas- 
ure. We maidens are there to cook and be compli- 
mented, the hungry workmen heartily praising our 
labors. It is exciting to see the logs go up so 
cheerily, the strong muscles gladly strained to their 
utmost tension, the calls and responses ringing loudly 
from the wielders of hand-spike and lever : ** Ho-ye- 
ho ! All together! Bravely ho !" The echoes sound 
abroad, as if a thousand Presbyterians were on their 
way to our help. 

Mary, the rosy Scotch lassie, Peggy, the blue-eyed 
maid of Ulster, Margaret, the sweet-toned singer of 
the Vincennes, Naomi, our rare Virginia beauty, and 
my own English hands knead the large corn-cakes, 
pour out the cider, and bring the uncarv^ed pigs to the 
perfection of brown roasting. 

We collect the news from the Old World, each 
nationality inquiring anxiously for its own fatherland. 
James is proving himself a tyrant and a Papist open 



138 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1686. 

and undisguised, scourging his shoulders for his sins, 
but breaking the heart of Mary of Modena by his 
shameless profligacy ; parading the mass publicly be- 
fore all eyes, and parading his adultery just as publicly 
by making his mistress Countess of Dorchester; pre- 
tending to condemn the revocation of the Edict of 
Nantes in France, but silencing the refugee ministers, 
having Claude's history of the Huguenot persecutions 
burned by the hangman, and cheating the French suf- 
ferers out of the money contributed in England for 
their relief Everywhere Papists are promoted to of- 
fice and their priests permitted to inveigh against the 
Protestant faith, while Protestant ministers are forbid- 
den to preach against the errors of Rome. The Jesuits, 
with Father Petre in the palace, are the king's honored 
advisers. The Tory churchmen are beginning to find 
that their doctrine of the divine right of kings may be- 
come double-edged. 

Well might Mr. Trail say in Dublin Castle five years 
ago, " I do not believe that the king has power to set 
up what government he pleases in the Church." 

Pursuing the Presbyterians of Scotland with unre- 
lenting cruelty, the king has taken the Papists there 
under his especial favor, and is trying to secure laws 
in their behalf from the obsequious Episcopal Parlia- 
ment. Some of the prelates basely give full consent 
to this on condition that the persecutions against the 
Presbyterians shall not be relaxed. If there seems 
any abatement of these fiendish horrors, it is only be- 
cause death and banishment have exhausted the. sup- 
ply of victims and many portions of the country have 
been made a solitude. In the absence of living vic- 
tims, war is made upon the peace of the grave. The 



A. D. 1686.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 1 39 

great field-preacher Alexander Peden having died this 
year and been buried in the church of Auchinleck, his 
body was disentombed six weeks afterward by soldiers 
and buried ignominiously at the foot of the gallows 
in Cumnock. Mr. Peden was once a fellow-prisoner 
in the Bass with Mr. Robert Trail, brother of our 
minister.* 

In Ireland, James is disarming the Protestants and 
leaving them at the mercy of the Celts, who are in- 
flamed by both religious and race hatred. Clarendon 
is nominally lord lieutenant, while Tyrconnel, " the 
Lying Dick Talbot," one of the basest men in the 
empire, is virtually the chief authority in the island. 
Any day the half-barbarous Rapparees may assault 
the Presbyterians.f 

Meanwhile, with implacable fury the bloody drag- 
onnades are devastating the Protestant provinces of 
P'rance. Pastors are banished or butchered, and the 
people, forbidden to emigrate, are subjected to all 
imaginable horrors in order to force them to abjure 
their religion. Children are wrested from their par- 
ents and immured in convents to be reared as Papists. 
Instigated by the French monarch, the Duke of Savoy 
is slaying the Piedmontese by hundreds.J 

These dark tidings make us more content with the 
hardships of the New World. It must be for some 
great purpose God is permitting the persecutor to 
drive so many of his best people over the deep. How 
blest are we to have these godly ministers preaching on 
our Shore! Of course there are frequent inquiries 
about Mr. Makemie and his work to the south of 

*Wodrow, in loco. | Macaulay and Reid,/^wm. 

X Evelyn's Diary for 1686. 



I40 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1686. 

US. What is he doing? Where is he to-day? Is 
he making Presbyterians of his mixed congregations ? 
Is he still on Elizabeth River, or in the CaroHnas, or 
in Barbadoes ? 

News is afloat that Mr. Penn has prevailed, and that 
our Proprietary has lost his possessions on the Dela- 
ware. King James seems to have taken the Quakers 
into especial favor. His love of despotism causes him 
to hate the old colonial charters, and that of Maryland 
had already been put in jeopardy by quo zvarraiito. 
Probably Father Petre, the court Jesuit, has no great 
liking for the Baltimores because of their tolerance 
of Protestants. Out of these various influences has 
resulted the following decision against the claims of 
our Proprietary : 

" For avoiding further difficulty, the tract of land lying between 
the river and bay of Delaware and the Eastern Sea on the one 
side, and Chesapeake Bay on the other, shall be divided into 
two equal parts by a line from the latitude of Cape Henlopen 
to the fortieth degree of Northern latitude."* 

So passes away this part of Maryland's chartered 
possessions for ever. Colonel Stevens criticises Mr. 
Penn's earnest protestations of his purpose to be a 
good neighbor. 

Thus, amid the hearty work of building at Mr. 
Trail's plantation of Brother's Love, we gather the 
news from Europe and America. 

Among the colonists these *' house-raisings " are oc- 
casions of rare pleasure. Our pastor was there with 
us — a man of weight in the Old World or the New. 
Mistress Elinor was with us, too, delighting the young 
maidens with her constant notice and commendations 

* Neill's Terra Maricv, p. 170; McMahon, p. ■},i. 



A. D. i686.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. I4I 

of their skill in the bread-baking. While she left us 
a while to speak with the youthful Madam Mary Jen- 
kins, our Huguenot singer paused to ask Naomi how 
she would like to be a minister's wife. Naomi is very 
attractive in the bloom of eighteen. 

Some of us discuss the report which we hear about 
Mr. Trail, and which seems to be confirmed. It is an- 
other mystery seemingly as impenetrable as that which 
I encountered on the South Point of Sinepuxent. If 
true, we shall feel that God is as near to our minister 
as he was to Moses on Sinai or to Elijah on Carmel. 

And now yonder stands Mr. Trail's forest-home 
overlooking the waters of the Pocomoke and in close 
neighborhood with the log temple at Rehoboth. 
Humble as these buildings are, they are no less im- 
portant in our eyes, and perhaps no less momentous 
in final results, than the mansion of the Baltimores 
and the State-House at St. Mary's. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
A. D. 1687. 

" We are confident that a great part of our Teachings are Christian 
Experiences." — Makemie. 

NOW and then we have our great communion sea- 
sons — all the ministers present and the services 
protracted from Friday over Sabbath. These eventful 
occasions seem almost like Presbyteries, or Meetings, 
as they are called in Ireland, when the three preachers 
confer with one another and with the ruling elders con- 
cerning the advancement of the gospel cause. To the 
exile the free messages of grace come as sweet balms. 
For Scotch, English, Irish and Huguenots the piney 
wilderness of Maryland is indeed a Bethel of priv- 
ilege. 

During one of these sacramental seasons at Reho- 
both, Mr. Trail, Mr. Wilson and Mr. Davis spend Sat- 
urday night at my father's. The little Dove is loaded 
with preachers — far more honored, we think, than her 
namesake when she brought over her cargo of Jesuit 
priests. The fragrance of the magnolia blooms charms 
us while the ministers tell of adventures for Christ and 
the Covenant along the loughs and streams of the Old 
World. 

On Sabbath morning, when the robins and wrens 
and martins are waking the early echoes, I look from 

142 



A. D. 1687.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 1 43 

my window and see Mr. Trail pensively walking the 
front yard. Like the Psalmist, his devotions are evi- 
dently " preventing the dawning of the morning." 

An awe comes over me, for again I think of the 
strange rumor. An irrepressible desire possesses me 
to know the truth from his own lips. I steal quietly 
from bed, hurriedly bathe my face, put on my gown 
and creep out to where he is standing. At first he 
does not see me, but he turns toward the river, notices 
my presence and salutes me courteously. He praises 
the soft Maryland morning and thanks God for the 
gift of such a day for our meeting. 

I can keep in no longer, but tell him what I have 
heard. 

Then, with a solemnity such as I have never seen in 
his mien before,* he speaks of how it used to startle 
him at first — how it has come to be an expected 
occurrence and no longer makes him unhappy. When- 
ever there are important duties before him, three raps 
on his chamber door are certain to awaken him at 
about three o'clock in the morning. If, through 
weariness or a disposition to indulge his drowsiness 
a while longer, he disregards the reminders, there are 
invariably three more at the head of his bed, which he 
dare not disobey. These mysterious calls never fail 
on Sabbaths, and more particularly on communions. 
No matter where he may be, the raps are always given 
in time for him to prepare himself for the work of the 
day (33). This morning, while all were sleeping, deep 
silence through the house and up and down the river, 

* It must be remembered that this was an age of superstition, belief 
in witchcraft, etc., even among the best people, both in America and 
in Europe. 



144 ^-^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1687. 

the warning had come, calling him to prayer and 
meditation. 

I feel that we stand on holy ground. He speaks 
sweetly of God's care over his servants during these 
present years of danger. It does indeed seem that 
in her epochs of persecution and grievous suffering 
the communication between the Church and the 
heavens is closest, the manifestation of God's pres- 
ence the most assured. 

In the year 1634 — troublous days in Ireland — Mr. 
Steward of Dunagor was standing by the grave of 
Josiah Welsh, and asked, " Who will be next ?" No 
one answering, he said, " I know." He went im- 
mediately to his church and remained within two 
hours, taking leave of it, he said, and calling stones 
and timbers to witness that he had been faithful. Soon 
he was upon his deathbed, and there declared : " My 
hair stands to behold what I see coming on these 
lands. The dead bodies of many thousands who 
this day despise the glorious gospel shall lie on the 
earth as dung unburied. Woe to thee, Dunagor ! for 
the nettles and the long grass shall be in greater plenty 
in thee than ever were people to hear the word of God." 
These prophecies were fulfilled before his children 
died.* 

To Mr. Alexander Peden, who died a year ago, 
singular predictions are also attributed, foretelling 
even the ravishing of his grave.f 

Thus during her great tribulations the Church has 
been brought to realize the nearness of her sovereign 
Head in many and marvelous ways. Here in the 
Western wilderness, along the Pocomoke no less than 

*Reid, i. 1S2. f Wodrow, iv. 396. 



A. D. 1687.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. I45 

along the Foyle and the Ayre, we are reminded that 
this messenger of the Most High is under his im- 
mediate guardianship, and that the sceptre of Omnipo- 
tence is waving over the cradle of the infant American 
Church. 

That day the colonists flocked to the little river 
sanctuary in great numbers, coming from all parts of 
the county and from the country below. Each season 
brings new faces, driven from their home in Europe. 
There, under the bright skies of Rehoboth, that day's 
untrammeled, unmolested communion was glorious 
indeed to the poor exiles. 

Our friend the bachelor Scotchman, John Galbraith, 
was there, of course, proud of our ministers and rejoic- 
ing in the freedom enjoyed by his banished country- 
men. We love him for his liberality in the support 
of the gospel, his diligence in business apparently 
inspired by a zeal to serve the Lord. He is not too 
far away to enjoy frequent hours of pleasant compan- 
ionship with his fellow-Scotchman at Brother's Love. 

I noticed Colonel Stevens, too, and thought how 
manly he looked, and how elated at the Sabbath scene. 
There he sat, lately home from St. Mary's, with his 
honors upon him — a Protestant, but fully trusted by 
the Catholic Proprietary and by all sects among the 
colonists. For over fifteen years, while George Fox 
was here and before, his plantation has been a place of 
assembling for worship, whether of the Quakers, Epis- 
copalians or Presbyterians : room enough for all. The 
first to urge the sending out of a Calvinistic missionary 
from Ulster, he has lived to see, during the seven years 
following, four ministers of our faith officiating within 
sight of his residence. When Mr. Makemie came, he 
10 



146 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1687. 

found the colonists already accustomed to meet on the 
judge's land for divine service, and here, of course, he 
began to preach and to organize. The results are 
seen to-day, and our deputy lieutenant is pleased. 
But in the midst of the delightful scene did he, on 
second and more searching look, appear worn and 
more pale than usual? 

I would like to tell of a conversation I heard 
between Colonel Francis Jenkins and Sir Robert 
King about Mr. Makemie, but events are pressing 
me. 

Not long that day did I forget the mysterious sum- 
mons which prepared Mr. Trail for these duties ; and 
whenever I looked over beyond the Jenkins planta- 
tion, it seemed to me that our minister's home at 
Brother's Love was lying very close along the verge 
of heaven, and that the valley of the Pocomoke is a 
favored spot in the eternal counsels. The flowering 
laurel was like great forests in bloom, and the blue of 
the skies was pure enough to overhang an Eden. 

So there came, now and then, blessed days hallow- 
ing this obscure nook of the New World — days of 
privilege undreamed of in the lands of the despot. 

This reminds me of something which I am disposed 
to transcribe into my journal from the incorruptible 
old bard Andrew Marvell, who died nine years ago. 
Here is his poem called " The Emigrants to the Ber- 
mudas " — which I preserve because the Church most 
like to Presbyterian of any other in this western 
hemisphere, until now, was organized there over 
forty years ago (1644) : 

" Where the remote Bermudas ride, 
In th' ocean's bosom unespied, 



A. D. 1687.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 147 

From a small boat that row'd along, 
The listening winds received their song: 
' What should we do but sing His praise 
That led us through the watery maze 
Unto an isle so long unknown, 
And yet far kinder than our own ? 
Where he the huge sea-monsters racks 
That lift the deep upon their backs, 
He lands us on a grassy stage, 
Safe from the storms and prelates' rage; 
He gave us this eternal spring 
Which here enamels everything. 
And sends the fowls to us in care 
On daily visits through the air ; 
He hangs in shades the orange bright 
Like golden lamps in a green night, 
And does in the pomegranate close 
Jewels more rich than Ormus shows ; 
He makes the figs our mouths to meet 
And throws the melons at our feet. 
But apples, plants of such a price 
No tree could ever bear them twice. 
With cedars chosen by his hand 
From Lebanon, he stores the land, 
And makes the hollow seas that roar 
Proclaim the ambergris on shore. 
He cast — of which we rather boast — 
The gospel's pearl upon our coast. 
And in these rocks for us did frame 
A temple where to sound his name. 
Oh, let our voice his praise exalt 
Till it arrive at heaven's vault, 
Which then, perhaps, rebounding, may 
Echo beyond the Mexique bay.' 
Thus sang they in the English boat 
A holy and a cheerful note, 
And all the way, to guide their chime, 
With falling oars they kept the time." 

So too a company of us sail and think and sing 
during the early summer while floating among the 



148 THE DAYS OF MAKRMIE. [A. D. 1687. 

sand-islands where the sea-birds lay their eggs, and 
over to the long array of hills that fence the coast. 
The gentlemen are crossing Assateague Bay for salt, 
and the ladies are tourists for pleasure. Orange, 
pomegranate, figs and rocks alone are wanting to 
complete the poet's picture. More prized than all 
the rest is " the gospel's pearl upon our coast, safe 
from prelates' rage." The air is healthily laden with 
the balsams of the pine-woods, mingling with the salt 
odors of the seaweed and of the marsh-blossoms, 
blue and golden. 

Far away to the northward I see the sharp point of 
Mr. Wale's plantation, and I again recall the venerable 
old man whose dignified bearing and mien of command 
remind my father of Cromwell's Ironsides. Ah me ! 
what heroic, romantic histories lie back of these land- 
patents which environ our coast ! 

Dr. John Vigerous, our Rehoboth physician, Mr. 
John Franklin, Mr. Henry Hudson, Mr. Robert Peel 
and my brother John compose our escort. On my 
especial invitation, the sweet singer of the Vincennes 
accompanies us ; for will not that voice delight my 
brother more than all sights and sounds of land and 
ocean ? I have brought Marvell's poem, and soon a 
melody of Southern France times the English song 
very sweetly to the rippling of the waves. 

Mr. Henry Hudson is the provoking naturalist of 
our expedition, vexatiously addicted to the study of 
worms, beetles, crabs, stingrays and all creeping 
things. A vast unexplored continent, with sea and 
forest full of horrid monsters to frighten poor maidens 
with, is very attractive to him. The New World is for 
him a paradise of bugs ! 



A. D. 1687.] THE DAYS OF. MAKEMIE. 14-9 

During the day a little flotilla of canoes comes pad- 
dling down the bay, and on inquiry we find it to be our 
former acquaintance, Queen Weocomoconus, her son 
Knusonum and their body-guard, going on a visit to 
the emperor Toattam of Assateague.* They are at- 
tired in their gaudiest costumes and padirts,'and the 
queen in all the finery of her nation. At the sugges- 
tion of our chronic mischief-monger, we sail near theiri, 
course ; and then, to our dismay, this same Henry 
Hudson, assuming the most grotesque seriousness, 
arises and through Robin Interpreter makes formal 
proposals for the union of our tribes by a marriage 
between himself and the queen. There suddenly 
grows no little excitement among the Indians, many 
words which we do not understand, and then they 
turn in disdain and hasten away. It is hard to tell in 
what trouble this bug-hunter may some day involve 
us. The Nanticoke word for "queen" is tattah-kesk ; 
for ** king," tatt-ak. 

While feasting on muscles and mamanoes upon the 
outer beach, unexpectedly the wind veers to the 
north-east, the sky is overcast, and we face a growing 
storm. The bay, smooth and placid but an hour 
ago, is lashed into foam. The mainland with its 
green forests shrinks away from us farther and farther, 
dim and hazy and afraid. Not daring to risk our little 
ketch upon the angry bay, we awake to the fact that 
we are caught upon the beach for the night. The 
ocean looks like a maniac, and the black heavens 
seem sinking into the maniac's embrace. 

The salt-boilers, living farther up the hills, welcome 
us to their rude cabins. Before the grim night settles 

■^Mentioned in Somerset records, November 11, 1691. 



150 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1687. 

down utterly, I notice on the vast expanse of billows 
something laboring and tossing as if in a struggle for 
life. Mr. Franklin tells me it is a ship beaten by the 
tempest and hurrying perhaps to its doom. So Mr. 
Makemie had been driven up the coast three years 
ago. 

During the terrific night I seem at intervals to hear 
screams, sighs, groans, calls for help; but the loud surf 
and the deafening winds swallow up all other sounds, 
and I curb my fancy and try to rest my jaded mind. 

The slow morning dawns at length. The violence 
of the storm has somewhat abated, though the break- 
ers are furious still. One of the beachmen runs with 
the alarm that a wreck is on shore, some of the sailors 
dead. There is hurrying toward the scene of the dis- 
aster — I hardly know how or who. The gentlemen 
are urging the women to remain under our rude 
shelter, but I only know that I did not heed them. 

I am the first to notice an object beaten by the 
waves, partly floating, partly stranded, rising and fall- 
ing in the surges. I see what it is — a human being, 
a corpse. I see the face, and I know no more. 

When consciousness returns, I am in the cabin, 
Margaret holding my head, the other ladies around. 
What does it all mean? Then I see Dr. Vigerous 
attending upon another. Then I hear something like 
groans. Or is it the howling of the storm? for now I 
remember there has been a storm. And soon it all 
comes back — the shore, the form, the face, the recog- 
nition, all ! 

I know what they are doing. I am myself again, 
and will not be stopped, and go to the side of the re- 
viving young man. How glad I am that the doctor 



A. D. 1687.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 151 

accompanied us ! The company knew not all, nor did 
I tell them then. John knew, and Margaret learned 
from him ere long, and her soft Huguenot tones be- 
came softer. 

The help had come in time, and the care and skill 
of Dr. Vigerous availed, I shall not protract the 
recital — the gradual recovery, the trip across the bay 
to the Chingoteague plantation of Mr. Robins, and 
then to our home. The English youth had become 
more and more incensed against the oppressors of 
God's people; his generous heart leaned to the per- 
secuted ; his brave resentments brought him into new 
troubles, just as when he became my champion against 
the drunken cavaliers. Finally, the same with us in 
faith and hope, he had started to the land of the free. 
Unknown to us, God had sent our company into the 
heart of that storm for his rescue. It was William, 
the son of our old neighbor. 

Before the year is done, news of sickness comes up 
the river. In the latter days of August, we had heard 
of the making of a will by Colonel Stevens ; Thomas 
Purnell, Philip Hammond and Henry Schofield were 
called over to the plantation for witnesses. Then, 
" being in good health and memory, blessed be God ! 
but considering the frailty of this life," he had arranged 
for the disposition of all property not already trans- 
ferred to wife and children. Among other bequests 
was the Cedar Hall plantation of five hundred acres 
to his cousin, Elizabeth White, widow of the sheriff, 
and to Edmund Howard and his son William Stevens 
Howard the plantation ** where he now lives, being 
bounded by the river and branch through the Town 
to the Mill-dam, and from thence up the branch that 



152 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1687. 

parts the town and the plantation on which Richard 
Hill now lives as tenant to said Howard." In the will 
he speaks of his " dear and loving wife Elizabeth," and 
piously declares : " I commit my soul to God that gave 
it, hoping for its future happiness through the mercy 
of my Creator and merits of my Redeemer Jesus 
Christ." 

A year of many important events is approaching its 
close. Tyrconnel, now lord lieutenant, is bringing all 
Ireland under Romish domination ; only one sheriff a 
Protestant, and that by mistake — the sheriff of Mr. 
Makemie's county of Donegal. Our friends there are 
utterly at the mercy of their foes. In all his three 
kingdoms James has been trampling upon the laws. 
To divide the Protestant opposition to his illegal 
exercise of prerogative, he has been suspending the 
penal enactments against Dissenters and proclaiming 
liberty of conscience to all. It is well understood 
that these measures are prompted by no kindness 
to the Dissenters. 

Whatever his motive, the churches of the Noncon- 
formists are at length open and crowded with worship- 
ers.* But no one knows what despotic act will come 
next. The old poet Edmund Waller has just died, 
eighty-two years of age, having said of James, " He 
will be left like a whale upon the strand." 

I hear Mr. Trail and my father talking of the pub- 
lication of a new book, called TJie Principia, by Mr. 
Isaac Newton, an astronomer. In it he claims that 
the heavenly bodies are all kept in their orbits by a 
wonderful mysterious force called " the attraction of 
gravitation." It is spoken of as a great discovery. 

*P2velyn's Diary, p. 509. 



A. D. 1687.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 1 53 

As December wears away, reports of severe illness 
come from the Rehoboth plantation. Great anxiety- 
spreads along- the river. The sick man has done more 
than any other for the development of our county, and, 
better still, has been the honored instrument in bring- 
ing the pure gospel to the Presbyterians of this poor 
land. His son John is now eighteen years old; Wil- 
liam, fifteen ; James, eleven ; and little Jane, seven. 
We think of these and the mother, and are sad. The 
new country, with its rude society and struggle for 
life, is a hard place for widowhood and orphanhood. 

Sunday, the 23d of December, comes and goes, and 
Colonel William Stevens is no more. Christmas Day 
dawns on a sorrowing home. In order that notice may 
reach the many friends all over the county, the burial 
is deferred until Wednesday. 

Wednesdaj^ comes, and the colonists begin to gather, 
arriving by road or river. Of course the county of- 
ficials are there — the justices, the high sheriff, the cor- 
oner, the constables, the press- master, the wood-ranger, 
the burgesses. Among the county officers, ever since 
its organization, his has been a familiar form to them 
all. The rich are there, and the poor indentured ser- 
vants. Slaves group themselves in mourning, their 
black faces burned by African suns, their great white 
eyes running tears. There, too, are Panquash and 
Annataughton of the Choptanks, King Daniel of 
the Pocomokes, Weegnonah of the Assateagues, 
Curremuccos and Tomehawk from the up-river 
town Askimmekonson, and our own Matchacoopah. 
Whether taking part in the impeachment of Major 
Trueman for his treacherous murder of the five In- 
dian chiefs on the Western Shore, eleven years ago, 



154 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1687. 

or whether in the governor's Council at St. Mary's, or 
whether upon the bench in the Somerset court, the 
red men know that he has always been the friend of 
the children of the forest. 

In the large assemblage are also the Episcopal 
clergyman, Mr. Hewett, and many Quakers. Never 
to my ear has the voice of Mr. Trail sounded more 
impressively. For three years he and the deceased 
have known each other well. As clerk of the Pres- 
bytery of Laggan, Mr. Trail had read the letter which 
seven years ago carried across the ocean our appeal 
for a Presbyterian ministry. The hand that wrote it 
is now cold in death ; the hand that broke the seal is 
helping to bury him. Who could then have predicted 
that the clerk of that Presbytery would by this time 
have been owning a home within three miles of the 
home of the writer of that letter, and have been tak- 
ing part at his funeral ? God works marvelously. 

A little way to the northward of his brick dwelling, 
by the graves of his brother Richard and his brother- 
in-law, Sheriff White, we laid the body of the pioneer. 
There he sleeps, near the waters of the ever-flowing 
river, awaiting the resurrection trump. On the records 
of the court over which he presided for more than a 
score of years they put the following memorial no- 
tice : 

" Colonel William Stevens, Esq., one of his Lordship's Depu- 
ties for Maryland, died and was buried at his own plantation 
called Rehoboth, December 26th." 

Said Matchacoopah in strange, weird wail, 

" The straight ivcensqiiaaqnah " (" cedar") of the Po- 

comoke has gone down before the togh-poh " (" frost ") 

of the north wind." 



CHAPTER IX. 
A. D. 1688. 

" Blessed be God for our seasonable and happy Revolution, that has 
in a great measure broke the deep projects of that Jesuitical Party ; 
and by an Established Liberty to all Dissenting Protestants has bound 
the Hands of former Persecutors." — Makemie. 

MY friend William has become one of the strong- 
est Presbyterians I ever saw. From the day 
when he resented the assault upon his playmate and 
declared, " I too will be a Puritan," he began to note 
the sycophancy of his Church toward the wicked 
Stuarts and her encouragement of the government 
in its persecutions of God's true people. Finally, her 
abject subserviency to the tyrant James and the parade 
of her doctrine of the divine right of kings broke the 
last tie of his heart to her communion, and he was 
one of the first to hasten to the reopened meeting- 
houses of the Nonconformists. 

Soon finding that he was drawing upon himself and 
his parents the animosity of the rector, William decid- 
ed to cast in his lot with those who sought religious 
liberty beyond the sea. It is pleasant to see him sit 
and enjoy the gospel in the little log church at Reho- 
both. He loves Mr. Trail and compares him to Bax- 
ter, Manton, Howe, and other great Dissenters whom 
he has heard in England. 

I believe that William is to be a thorough American. 

155 



156 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1688. 

He fears the wild beasts no more than he feared the 
drunken votaries of Prelacy whom he defied in de- 
fence of the Presbyterian girl. He and John and 
Matchacoopah have lately been upon a two days' 
wolf-hunt toward the head-waters of Pitts's Creek. 
They come home with a dozen wolves' tongues and 
ears for trophies. For each wolf killed they are en- 
titled to two hundred pounds of tobacco from the 
county.* 

Our two young men have taken advantage of the 
leisure season to attend the county court. William 
was astonished at the contrast between the technical 
forms in the old country and the common-sense pro- 
ceedings in the new. Upon the bench he finds men 
of various trades, knowing nothing of law-books, and 
some of them unable to write or to read. The statutes 
of the colony are few and simple. The theory is to 
recognize the laws of the mother-country so far as 
applicable to our peculiar circumstances, but the prac- 
tice is to decide each case upon its merits, regardless 
of precedents. My father thinks that justice is as 
often done as under the precise formalities of Europe. 

The young men have been speaking of the attorney's 
oath administered to all who practice in our Somerset 
court, and just taken by James Sangster, Thomas 
Pool, Edward Jones, John Taylor, Edward Beau- 
champ and Josias Seward : 

" You swear that you will do no falsehood nor consent for any 
to be done in this court ; and, if you know of any to be done, 
you shall give notice thereof to the Justices of this court that it 
may be [illegible] : you shall delay no man for lucre or malice ; 

* Somerset records, 1688. So, also, all county incidents in this 
chapter. 



A. D. i688.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 157 

you shall increase no fees but be contented with the fees of an 
attorney to be limited and appointed by this court ; all such pro- 
cesses as you shall seal out of this court shall be sealed with the 
seal thereof; and further you shall use and demean yourself, in 
your office as an attorney in this court, according to your best 
skill and knowledge. So help you God." 

The fee, as limited and appointed, is one hundred 
pounds of tobacco for each case. Mr. Sangster is 
made prosecuting attorney, and is to be paid said 
amount for each criminal he convicts— nothing, where 
he fails to convict. 

For some reason which I could not understand, the 
company seemed greatly amused at the idea of a law- 
yer being bound up to truthfulness, or being pledged 
not to delay any case for lucre, or being sworn to be 
content with the lawful fee. 

Mr. William Morris, who lives near Dividing Creek, 
was prosecuted and convicted on two counts— drunk- 
enness and breach of the Sabbath— and was fined one 
hundred pounds of tobacco for each offence. I fear it 
is not the last time our neighbor will be guilty of 
such crimes. 

Our Quaker friend William Day has been appointed 
justice, but, as he asks time to consider the oath, the 
matter is referred to the Council at the next provincial 
court. William Jones, another Quaker, constable elect, 
pleads conscience against taking the oath, and is ex- 
cused from the office. 

An order was made for repairing the pillory and 
stocks— a standing threat to malefactors. The high 
sheriff. Colonel Jenkins, was authorized to procure the 
legal scales and weights, of eight hundred pounds' 
capacity, for each of our seven towns. 



Oats, 


2 " 


or 24 *' 


Barley, 


6 pence. 


or 6 « 


Pease, 


3 shiL, 


or 36 " 


Pork, 


2 pence, 


or 2 


Beef, 


i^ " 


or l>^ 


Bacon, 


4 " 


or 4 



158 r^^ DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1688. 

Our young friend was much interested in the follow- 
ing lawful prices, copied while at court : 

Indian corn, shelled, 18 pence, or 18 lbs. tobacco, per bushel. 
Wheat, 4 shillings, or 48 lbs. tobacco, per bushel. 



lbs, tobacco, per pound. 



Mr. John Robins and his wife, Catherine, were pros- 
ecuted on a charge against the latter for calling the 
wife of Samuel Collins a witch. It was in evidence 
that Mrs. Robins had declared that any live thing 
bought of the said Mrs. Collins will not thrive, but 
die. Defendants were fined two hundred pounds of 
tobacco and bound over to keep the peace. 

It is a serious matter to be accused of witchcraft 
in these times. This very year all Boston is becoming 
wild over the frightful contortions and convulsions of the 
Godwin children under spells said to be put upon them 
by an old hag named Glover. The frenzy is spreading 
widely. I do hope that New England's furor may not 
reach us. Perhaps the prompt action of our county 
court may help to prevent such accusations. Some- 
times I hardly know what to think. When we reflect 
that such great men as Lord Bacon, the famous Law- 
yer Coke, Bishop Hall, Mr. Baxter and Sir Matthew 
Hale believed in such demoniacal possessions during 
these troublous ages, it is not much wonder that 
weaker minds should yield to the fearful panic. I 
trust that the sound religious sense of Mr. Make- 
mie, Mr. Trail, Mr. Davis and Mr. Wilson may keep 
all these superstitions at a distance from our latitudes. 



A. D. i688.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 1 59 

I feel greater interest in our young men's account 
of the scenes in court because my father has fre- 
quently spoken of Mr. Makemie himself as no mean 
law}^er. 

News comes of terrific earthquakes in various parts 
of the world — in Lima, in Smyrna, in Italy and else- 
where — utterly demolishing whole cities. These phys-. 
ical convulsions are considered by many as omens of 
the wrath of Heaven against our earth — " forerunners," 
says John Evelyn, " of greater calamities. God Al- 
mighty preserve his Church, and all who put themselves 
under the shadow of his wings, till these things be over- 
past !" 

Meanwhile, a greater earthquake overturns the 
Stuart's throne. In love with Popery, more in love 
with arbitrary prerogative, James II. has outraged the 
principles of the English constitution until the nation 
can bear no more. For a long while Prelacy con- 
tinued to sustain the tyrant with its doctrine of pas- 
sive obedience. During this very year bishops in 
Scotland, in an obsequious address to the throne, 
avowed that their allegiance was "an essential part 
of their religion," and they wished him "the hearts 
of his subjects and the necks of his enemies." So 
long as the despotic measures and cruel persecutions 
of James struck Dissenters alone. Prelacy was satis- 
fied and cheered on the bloody work. In February 
the brave youthful Renwick died upon the scaffold — 
the last martyr for the Covenant, we trust. No pro- 
test against his murder was heard from prelatic lip or 
pen. 

The king cares nothing for the Church of England 
only as it is a pliant tool for accomplishing ulterior 



l6o THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1688. 

purposes. First, her clergy are commanded not to 
preach against the Papacy. Then a full indulgence 
and relief from all tests is offered to everybody. The 
head of the Anglican Church and the Church herself 
are at loggerheads, and both begin to bid unblushing- 
ly for the favor of those whom both have persecuted. 
Each accuses these barbarities shamelessly upon the 
other.* Baxter, Bunyan, Howe and a large majority 
of their friends stand by the laws of their country, 
although those laws are severe against themselves. 

The English clergy are commanded to read the 
illegal Declaration of Indulgence from their pulpits; 
many refuse, and seven bishops are committed to the 
Tower. Nonconformist ministers visit them there 
and offer their respect and sympathies. Letters come 
to them from the Presbyterians of Scotland assuring 
them of their support and confidence. The prelates 
are brought to trial before a jury composed partly 
of Dissenters, and are cleared. There are public re- 
joicings by all true-hearted Englishmen, irrespective 
of denominational lines, and bonfires blaze every- 
where. 

In her strait Prelacy has been very zealous in court- 
ing Nonconformity. Says Mr. Makemie : 

"What condescensions and fair promises did they allow King 
Charles II. to make, yea, and to take the coronation oath of 
Scotland to maintain Presbyterian government there ; and also 
to give solemn protestations at Breda to Dissenters of England, 
confirmed by a declaration for liberty to all tender consciences. 
But soon after the Restoration, all was violated and soon forgot. 
The next time they were under any fears, was at the discovery 
of the grand Papist plot, and fresh pretences for moderation 
were then published ; but continued not long, ending in a sham 

'*' See Macaulay, ii., chapter vii. 



A. D. 1688.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 161 

plot and a new persecution. And the next trouble the Church 
of England was in was when the seven Bishops were in the 
Tower, only for refusing to engage upon their honors to answer 
at the King's Bench to what should be objected against them ; 
and then in their petition to the late king, they professed a great 
deal of tenderness to Dissenters."* 

We shall see how these professions will end. 

James will not be warned by the rising indignation 
of an outraged nation. William of Orange sails for 
the deliverance of England, and lands at Torbay on 
the 5th of November — ^just one hundred years after 
the destruction of the Invincible Armada. Soon 
James is off the throne and flies to France. A 
Calvinistic Protestant grasps the sceptre. 

In Scotland the Privy Council dissolves and dis- 
appears ; the persecution is over, the country is free. 
The prelatic curates are marched out of the places 
into which they had intruded only to harass and 
devastate. Now that revenge was easy, what mag- 
nanimity that no blood flowed, no fiercer blow was 
struck than that of snowballs ! Under the last two 
Stuarts eighteen thousand victims had suffered, eigh- 
teen hundred had been put to death. This was the 
work of willing ecclesiastical abettors. But for the 
long battling of bleeding Presbyterians, the three king- 
doms would have been sunken into hopeless slavery. 

While yet on his march from Torbay to London a 
deputation bringing congratulations reaches the Prince 
of Orange ^/om the Presbyterians of Ulster. Soon 
bursts ever the province the report of a threatened 
massacre of the disarmed Protestants by thoroughly 
or^^anized Roman Catholics. The Presbyterian minis- 
ters urge the people to muster and arm. Rev. James 

* Truths in a True Light. 
11 



l62 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1688, 

Gordon of Clendermot persuades the citizens of London- 
derry to close their gates against the advancing Papists. 
Bishop Hopkins and his clergy earnestly oppose this 
measure and inculcate non-resistance — the old story. A 
body of bold young men, mostly Presbyterians, seize the 
keys and lock the gates in the face of the approaching 
" redshanks." While the loyal prelate is preaching 
the duty of passive obedience to the Lord's anoint- 
ed, one of the young Scotchmen cries out, "A good 
sermon, My Lord — a very good sermon ; but we 
have not time to listen to it just now." 

What will all this bring to us in these Western 
wilds ? 

On our return up the river from an excursion to 
the log house at Brother's Love, where we had been 
to learn from Mr. Trail the latest tidings from over the 
ocean, we all stopped to see the new tomb lately 
placed over the remains of our lamented friend. 
Mary, the Scotch lassie, Peggy, the blue-eyed maid of 
Ulster, Margaret, the Huguenot songstress, Naomi 
Anderson, brother John, William and myself form 
quite a group about the tomb. It is a large, broad, 
thick slab of marble, resting upon a pedestal of brick, 
beneath the shade of the trees. Having just heard 
of the death of Mr. John Bunyan, the sure passage 
of the good pilgrim through the gates of the Celes- 
tial City, we are all in a mood to think of death cheer- 
fully. 

Walking up from the river, we see some one sitting 
upon the stone in the keen December air, and hear a 
child's voice singing plaintively from old Rouse : 

" Such pity as a father hath 
unto his children dear. 



A. D. 1688.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 163 

Like pity shows the Lord to such 
as worship him in fear." 

As we drew near, little Jane recognized us through 
her tears. 

" I was singing about papa," said the child. 

On the heavy slab we read the following inscription : 

Here lyeth the body of William 

Stevens Esq., who departed this 

Life the 23 of December 1687 

Aged 57 years he was 22 years 

Judge of this County Court one of 

His Lordship's Councill and one of ye 

Deputy Lieutenants of this 

Province of Maiyland. 
Vivit Post Funera Virtus (34). 



CHAPTER X. 
A. D. 1689. 

" That the God of all Grace would bless the World with a better 
Spirit is the prayer of, Sirs, your devoted Servant, in all Civility — 

" Francis Makemie." 

ALONG our rivers and swamps we are interested in 
^ remedies for the ague. I have just heard of one 
tried for seven years in England and recommended 
by Mr. John Evelyn as tested by himself: 

" Bathing the legs to the knees in milk made as hot as can be 
borne ; sitting also in a deep vessel full of the hot milk, covered 
with blankets, and drinking carduus posset ; then going to bed 
and sweating." * 

This reminds me of a physician's bill charged this 

year in our county, and which I preserve as illustrative 

of the times : 

August 22. 

I visit 100 lbs. tob. 

I purgation & 2 decoctions 250 " " 

1 vial cordial waters 400 " " 

3 sweats 100 " " 

2 potions laxative, with attendance 200 " " 

September 5. 

Ferrying 30 lbs. tob. 

Second visit loo " « 

6 laxatives in 6 days 300 " " 

Sweating & oil & unguents 80 " ** 

I stomack plaster, with attendance 50 " « 

Carry forward 1610 lbs. tob. 
* Evel5m's Diary. 
164 



A. D. 1689.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 165 

September 16. 

Brought forward i6iolbs. tob. 

Ferrying 30 « « 

Third visit 100 « « 

I cordial & spirits of salt 200 " «* 

I diet drink, and this with attendance and syrup , 200 " « 

September 25. 

Ferrying 30 lbs. tob. 

I purgation lOo « « 

I decoction with ingredients . .200 " <* 

Cordial medicines loo " « 

All time & attendance 800 « « 

3370 lbs. tob. 

The poor man died. The bill was disputed, suit 
brought and judgment obtained, George Layfield 
dissenting. 

Naomi writes me that the Episcopal clergyman, Mr. 
Teackle, has just sued his vestry before the Acco- 
mack court for twenty thousand pounds of tobacco 
and recovered it, his salary being established by law 
at sixteen thousand pounds per annum. He has been 
officiating in the counties below us for thirty-three years 
— since 1656. He owns much land and a large 
library.* My correspondent also tells of the build- 
ing of an Episcopal church at Assawaman two years 
ago (1687), not far eastward from her home. Naomi 
prophesies that the Presbyterians of Accomack will 
ere long have a preacher of their own, and then, in 
pure mischief, she drops the subject and leaves it a 
mystery. 

In the exciting events now occurring in Europe, 
Mr. Trail is intensely interested. At Rehoboth and the 
regions around he preaches to us the precious gospel 
* Inventory of his books on Accomack records. 



l66 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1689. 

and continues to improve the grounds at Brother's 
Love, as if expecting to remain here always. In June 
he presented a petition to our court to change the 
pubHc road now running through lands which he is 
preparing for a cornfield. But I sometimes fear that 
this " William Trail, Minister, settling a new planta- 
tion on Pocomoke," as the records describe him, may- 
yet be persuaded back to his native heaths. 

This year there are twelve hundred and sixty-six 
taxables in our county, and a levy is made for fifty 
thousand and fifty-one pounds of tobacco. The pop- 
ulation of the province is estimated at twenty-five 
thousand.* 

A petition presented by Mrs. Mabel Rounds that 
her fine be remitted on the grounds of insolvency in 
court is refused. But, on account of her " reforma- 
tion " and the prayer of her husband, the fine is re- 
mitted on condition that he put up "a substantial 
ducking-stool near the Court House where the old 
ducking-stool now stands," and keep it in repair for 
six years. A wholesome warning to Mrs. Mabel, but 
rather hard on the poor husband. 

James English is convicted of a double crime — 
shooting an unmarked hog " instead of nailing up its 
ears ;" also a breach of the Sabbath, the shooting hav- 
ing been perpetrated on God's holy day. He is fined 
and put under bond. 

A gallon of rum is ordered, at the county's expense, 
by a sympathetic court, for the use of the grand jurors. 
One of these jurors was also on the jury which would 
have a " sermon taught " in the county, seventeen years 
ago (1672). 

* McMahon, p. 273; Somerset records. 



A. D. 1689.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 167 

A petition from a number of citizens is entertained 
in court: 

" That acts passed by the last Assembly which seem to give 
encouragement for the making of English linen and woolen 
cloth may if possible be disannulled and made of none effect ; 
otherwise it will not only endanger the peace and safety of this 
county but likewise hazard the ruin of many families, as also 
occasion many freemen to desert his Lordship's county." 

Colonel Francis Jenkins stated that the Council told 
him " they would take no advantage of any of the in- 
habitants of this county in case they disannul it." 
Court so orders. Thus nullification is legalized in 
Somerset. 

While Mr. Trail is peacefully engaged cultivating 
his cornfield, and while the jurisprudence of the 
county is pursuing its forms, startling events are 
occurring across the ocean and across the Chesapeake, 
and the county is soon to be His Lordship's no more. 

The coronation of William and Mary has taken 
place in London. A Toleration Act has been passed, 
not accomplishing all that ought to be done, but re- 
lieving Dissenters of many burdens and enabling them 
to worship under protection of law. The king shows 
kindness to all Protestants and is anxious to secure 
greater harmony of faith and worship. But there is 
opposition. No small number of bishops and clergy 
have suddenly grown conscientious, and refuse to take 
the oath to the new king. Henceforth the Papists are 
not the only Jacobites. 

William's hereditary hatred for France is gratified 
by the rising indignation of England against Louis 
XIV. Thousands of fugitive Huguenots — men of 
learning and worth — have helped to form and inten- 



1 68 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1689. 

sify public feeling. High dignitaries of the Anglican 
Church, discussing the pouring out of the third vial 
now thought to be going on, and the destruction of 
Antichrist which is to follow, are assuming that the 
Cevennes Christians and the Waldenses are the two 
witnesses of the Apocalypse now being killed. Of 
martyrs so distinctively Presbyterian it is singular that 
these dignitaries should admit that they " by all ap- 
pearance from good history have kept the primitive 
faith from the very Apostles' time until now." * 

Tyrconnel has called the Papists of Ireland to arms, 
and the country is desolated by thousands of Rappa- 
rees. Exhausting the Southern country, these robbers 
surge on toward Ulster. Enniskillen and Londonderry 
acknowledge William and Mary and nerve themselves 
for a terrific struggle. 

On the 1 2th of March, backed by France, James 
lands at Kinsale. He joins the Northern army, and 
they reach St. Johnstown, five miles from Derry, in 
April. On the i8th the siege begins. Lundy, the 
traitorous Episcopal governor, tries to betray the 
town into the hands of the enemy, but his purpose is 
defeated by the gallant Adam Murry. Although 
Bishop Mossom for years prevented the erection of 
a Presbyterian church within the walls, now, in the 
time of need, there are fifteen of the defenders Pres- 
byterians to one Episcopalian. 

Through one hundred and five days the marvelous 
contest continues. There, in the North of the Emer- 
ald Isle, from the summit and sides of its hill over- 
looking the waters of the river Foyle, stands the 
brave little city, the bulwark of civil and religious 

* Evelyn's Diary, 



A. D. 1689.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 169 

liberty. Its beleaguered heroes fight and suffer and 
starve, while the fearless women serve out water and 
ammunition all through the furious struggle. 

Famine and pestilence rage within the city. Horse- 
flesh and dogs and salted hides and rats are growing 
scarce as food. Prayers from starving, fever-stricken, 
yet unfaltering, men and women go up for strength 
and victory. On the 30th of July, English ships 
move up the Foyle, break the boom stretched across 
it by the enemy, and bring to the wharf ample sup- 
plies,* thus confounding the hopes of the followers 
of James II. 

So ends one of the most momentous conflicts in the 
history of nations and of Christianity. From hearts 
like these our Presbyterianism came to this shore. 
Through those dreadful days of siege Mr. John Row- 
at, the successor of Mr, Trail at Lifford, with eight 
more of our ministers, was shut up amid all the hor- 
rors of the city. At St. Johnstown, where the enemy 
was encamped, and where James looked on and en- 
couraged his Popish adherents, the Presbytery of 
Laggan used to meet until prohibited by its foes. 
There Mr. Makemie was received as a candidate 
for the ministry. 

Six or eight miles away, Mr. Makemie's native hills 
have also been the scene of warfare and blood. The 
Isle of Inch, out in Lough Swilly, in sight of his 
father's house, was fortified and held by Protestant 
forces. At Ramullan, a little northward of our pio- 
neer's home, Colonel Henry Hunter was attacked by 
greatly superior numbers under the Duke of Berwick. 
Defeated with the loss of two hundred men, the duke 

* Reid, vol. ii., and Witheiow's Enniskillen and Derry, 



I/O THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1689. 

retreated, inflicting many outrages on the Protestants 
of the neighborhood.* The " Lough of Shadows " 
has been under darker shadows than the shadows 
of its mountains. The Isle of Inch, thoroughly garri- 
soned, supplies a place of refuge for many Protestants 
around its shores. Perhaps Anne Makemie, the be- 
loved younger sister, found safety there during those 
dark days. 

The same week with the battle of Newton Butler, 
when the heroic Enniskilleners gave the finishing-blow 
to their foes and hastened the rout of the retreating be- 
siegers of Derry, the fiend Claverhouse, Earl of Dun- 
dee, falls at Killiekrankie in enfranchised Scotland. 
There expires the last hope of James II. — " the dar- 
ling of Heaven," as he is called by his Episcopal 
friends. 

To the authorities at Edinburgh comes the eloquent 
prayer of the scarred veterans of Scotland, urging that 
the throne be declared vacant and that measures be 
taken to secure the kingdom against such oppression 
for ever, pleading for these things — 

" By the cry of the blood of our murdered brethren ; by the 
sufferings of the banished free-born subjects of this realm, now 
groaning in servitude, having been sold into slavery in the Eng- 
lish plantations of America ; by the miseries that many thou- 
sands forfeited, disinherited, harassed and wasted houses have 
been reduced to ; by all the sufferings of a faithful people for 
adhering to the ancient covenanted establishment of religion and 
liberty ; and by all the arguments of justice, necessity and mercy, 
that could ever join together, to begin communication among men 
of wisdom, piety and virtue." f 

Thus these noble men remember the exiles in the 
plantations of far America. How the hearts of our 

* Reid, ii. 384. | Wodrow, passim. 



A. D. 1689.] THE DAYS OF MAKE M IE. I/I 

Browns, Erskines, Galbraiths, Wilsons, and hundreds 
of indentured servants, thrill under these burning 
words ! 

Among other declarations in their Claim of Right, 
the Scotch Estates respond : 

" That Prelacy and the superiority of any office in the Church 
above Presbyters, is, and hath been, a great and insupportable 
grievance and trouble to the nation." 

Now comes an explanation of Naomi's hint with 
regard to a Presbyterian minister in Accomack. It is 
Mr. Makemie, and he is living down on Matchatank 
Creek, a placid stream which enters the bay near the 
mouth of the Onancock, and which is sometimes called 
" The Little Onancock." The political excitement in 
Virginia probably hastened Mr. Makemie's removal 
to the more retired Eastern Shore. 

Of late the Council of that province has been very 
abject in its declarations of loyalty to the Stuart, the 
colony smarting under the double despotism of James 
and of Governor Effingham. There went abroad 
frightful reports of plots by Papists and Indians. 
The people were aroused, and have been in arms. 
The Council has been prosecuting all who uttered a 
word in disapproval of the king's course. Colonel 
John Scarborough was brought to trial for saying that 
"His Majesty would wear out the Church of England." 
The parade of attachment to James and the attendant 
turmoil may well have loosened Mr. Makemie from 
the Western Shore (35). 

Meanwhile, the excitement in our own province 
bursts into revolution. The king's attempted aggran- 
dizement of Popery, over the seas, had aroused the 
dread of our Protestant population. They knew that 



1/2 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D, 1689. 

James would not stop with fastening the papal yoke 
upon his European subjects (36). Nor could our 
Catholic colonists wholly conceal their gratification 
at the usurpation of James in his efforts to bring his 
Church back to power. 

The base informer Titus Oates had included our 
Proprietary in his many perjuries, charging him with 
intrigues to uproot Protestantism from British soil. 
The fact was known that His Lordship preferred 
James to William, notwithstanding the part that James 
had taken in assisting William Penn to a large portion 
of his province, and notwithstanding the known truth 
that James was endeavoring to abrogate his charter- 
right to all the rest. Lord Baltimore seemed disposed 
to stand by the Catholic despot, though he would there- 
by ruin himself, and us too.* 

Of course there were enough bad men to take the 
tide. While there have been good clergymen in 
America, yet the colonies have been afflicted with 
some of the worst in the English Church — men with- 
out good repute or support at home, whose only hope 
was in a new country where their lives were not known, 
and where there are no ecclesiastical superiors to call 
them to account. What is said by Hammond in his 
Leali and Rachel is still true. 

" Many came, such as wore black coats and could babble in 
a pulpit, roar in a tavern, exact from their parishioners, and 
rather, by their dissoluteness, destroy than feed their flocks." 

Said Colonel Berkeley of Virginia in 1671 : 

" But of all other commodities, so of this, the worst are sent 
us, and we had few that we could boast of." 

* Neill's Terra Mari<p, passim. 



A. D. 1689.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 1 73 

These corrupt clergymen are the most intolerant of 
all toward Dissenters, and the most busy in stirring up 
strife. One of these vicious men in holy orders — the 
notorious John Coode — has been prompt to seize the 
opportunity now afforded for agitation and revenge. 
Before in rebellion, but dealt with too leniently by the 
Proprietary, he has never forgiven His Lordship for 
defeating his plans and then pardoning him (37). 

The deputy lieutenants have not been wise. We 
feel that if Colonel Stevens, one of the nine, had been 
alive, the result might have been different. Their pres- 
ident, William Joseph, weak and foolish in the hour of 
danger, has been contending for the divine right of 
legitimates as zealously as the Stuarts themselves. 
The Lower House of Assembly was called before 
the Upper to take the oath of allegiance to the Pro- 
prietary, contrary to the privileges of the burgesses 
and involving an unnecessary suspicion. The elect- 
ors would naturally resent this infringement upon 
the rights and honor of their representatives. An- 
other misstep was the arming of the province upon 
receiving the news of the invasion of England by the 
Prince of Orange, bearing the appearance of a purpose 
to take sides with the Papist tyrant against England's 
Protestant deliverer. 

The deputies were at this juncture renewing treaties 
with certain Indian tribes, and rumors were sent abroad 
by the conspirators that this was done to enlist the 
savages in the Papist plot to fasten the yoke upon 
Maryland. Steps were taken to suppress these ru- 
mors, blunder upon blunder thus hastening their 
speed and intensifying the damaging suspicions. 

The other colonies were now proclaiming William 



174 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1689. 

and Mary and putting themselves in line with the Pro- 
testant sentiment of Europe. We wait in vain for 
their recognition by the government at St. Mary's. 
Are not our authorities occupying the same position 
with the base Tyrconnel of Ireland ? Had it only been 
known that our Proprietary, though at first loyal to 
James, had at last given in his adhesion to William 
and Mary and sent orders to America for their recog- 
nition, the results might have been different, but, unfor- 
tunately, the orders did not reach their destination in 
time. The deputies delayed. Delay at such an hour 
is ruin. 

Our tranquil Eastern Shore has not wholly escaped 
the excitement. Many of us know not what to think. 
We admire our Proprietary and believe, if he had been 
in the province, he could have satisfied the people and 
poured oil upon the troubled waters. Those of us 
whose relatives are still bleeding under the cruelties 
inflicted in France and Ireland have reason to dread 
the Papists. But Catholic Baltimore is far better than 
Episcopal Coode. 

Coode sees that his opportunity has come. In 
March it is reported that hostile demonstrations are 
made by the Indians on the Patuxent. Coode asks 
arms from the government for repelling the fabulous 
Indian invasion. With this bold leader falsehood and 
treachery are favorite weapons. " If much dirt is 
thrown, some of it will stick," is his characteristic 
maxim. Arms are granted by the too credulous 
authorities — arms to be used against themselves. 

In April is formed what is called "An Association 
in Arms for the Defence of the Protestant Religion and 
for Asserting the Rights of King William and Queen 



A. D. 1689.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 1 75 

Mary to the Province of Maryland and all the English 
Dominions." From the printing-press at St. Mary's — 
the first in Maryland, and one of the first in America 
— is issued a pamphlet justifying the movement, de- 
claring the motives of the revolutionists and contain- 
ing most serious charges against the administration of 
the Proprietary. 

Coode and his forces capture St. Mary's and besiege 
the Council at Matapony, on the Patuxent, the colo- 
nists still inflamed with falsehoods about the encroach- 
ments of the Indians. On the ist of August, two 
days after the close of the siege at Londonderry, the 
garrison at Matapony are forced to surrender, and the 
government is in the hands of the Associators. His 
Lordship's power is prostrate, and by the terms of the 
surrender the Papists are henceforth excluded from all 
offices, civil and militar>^, within the province. I trem- 
ble for Lady Mary Somerset amid all these distrac- 
tions. 

What is to be the result of this revolution ? These 
men have no right to the government. Will the con- 
duct of the usurpers be approved in England ? What 
change will it bring to Dissenters ? W^arrants are is- 
sued by the revolutionists for the election of burgesses 
to a convention to meet in the latter part of August. 
Some of the counties observe the order, some refuse. 
The convention send to King William a favorable ac- 
count of themselves and their purposes, and skillfully 
put the Maryland revolution upon the same footing 
with the revolution in England, for the establishment 
of his authority here. 

One name among the Associators had influence in 
gaining the confidence of the Presbyterians — that of 



176 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1689. 

Colonel Ninian Beall (38). He is a Scotchman, driven 
from home by the persecutions there, first settling in 
Barbadoes, then coming to Maryland and purchasing 
a tract of land between the Potomac and Patuxent, 
called "Upper Marlborough" — it was first named 
" New Scotland " — and to that point he has been invit- 
ing colonists from his native Fifeshire. To calm the 
fears of the people, early this year he made report to 
the Council that there were no grounds for suspecting 
the Papists of a plot. This was noble. In fact, his 
experience in Scotland would teach him to fear Prela- 
cy as much as Popery. But, wisely preferring William 
to James, he is now among those who are anxious to 
guide the revolution to good results. 

It is to be feared that Mr. Trail is losing some of his 
interest in the plantation of Brother's Love. Another 
plantation needing cultivators is upon his heart. Prel- 
acy was abolished in Scotland by act of Parliament in 
July, but, out of the four hundred Presbyterian minis- 
ters ejected since the restoration of the Stuarts, only 
sixty remain alive to witness the final triumph of Pres- 
bytery. The wasted lands, the decimated churches, 
gaze on the vacancies and sigh for their banished 
sons. 

In the midst of these stirring events and rapid 
changes, our native population increases. On the 
29th of August, while the Convention is preparing 
its address to King William, another little native- 
born Marylander appears over on the Monokin and 
captures the heart and the name of Major Robert 
King. Mrs. Mary Jenkins is very proud of her royal 
brother.* 

* Afterward the husband of Makemie's daughter. 



A. D. 1689.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 177 

Scotchmen will be Scotchmen. The other day I 
heard Mary, our rosy lassie, singing to her old-bache- 
lor friend John Galbraith a new song composed only a 
year or two ago and just sent her from her home over 
the deep. While she sang I wondered if a pleasant 
memory stirred the exile's heart of some sweet face 
by some ingleside in dear Scotia. Or has he made 
the Church the love of his life ? This is the brand- 
new ballad : 

" Maxwelton banks are bonnie. 
Where early fa's the dew, 
Where me and Annie Laurie 

Made up the promise true — 
Made up the promise true, 
And ne'er forget will I; 
And for bonnie Annie Laurie 

I'll lay down my head and die " (39). 
12 



CHAPTER XI. 
A. D. 1690. 

" We must purge away the spots and stains if we would appear beau- 
tiful in the eyes of our God." — Makemie. 

MR. MAKEMIE studies the capabilities of these 
shores from a business-man's standpoint. He 
says : 

" I need not inform you what an excellent and desirable coun- 
try you inhabit, not inferior to any Colonies in the English Amer- 
ica ; situate in a moderate 'Climate and Northern latitude, suit- 
able and agreeable to European bodies ; supplied with the spa- 
cious Bay of Chesapeake which runs thorow and divides first Vir- 
ginia, next Maryland, running North and by East nearest, about 
eight leagues in breadth, capable of receiving vast fleets of ships 
without skillful pilots, not to be affrighted with dangerous rocks 
and dismal sands ; a Bay in most respects not to be outdone by 
the universe, having so many large and spacious rivers branch- 
ing on both sides ; and each of these rivers richly supplied and 
subdivided into sundry smaller rivers, spreading themselves 
both on the North and South sides, to innumerable creeks and 
coves, admirably carved out and contrived by the Omnipotent 
hand of our Wise Creator for the advantage and conveniency 
of its inhabitants ; so that I have oft, with no small admiration, 
compared the many rivers, creeks and rivulets of water in these 
colonies to veins in human bodies." 

I am glad to know his high appreciation of the two 
sister-provinces. The attractions have been growing 
upon him since six years ago, when, after his first visit 
to Maryland, he wrote in reference to his friends in 
Ireland : 

178 



A. D. 1690.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 



179 



" I design to be very cautious in inviting them to any place in 
America I have yet seen." 

Now he continues : 

" Here we have a clear and serene air, a long and hot summer, 
a short and sharp winter, a free and fertile soil. Here are vast 
quantities of timber for shipping, trade and architecture, our 
country being generally woody. Here are in most places bricks 
to be made at every man's door for building; a soil suitable for 
producing anything agreeable for a Northern latitude and with 
as little labor and expense as any place in the world ; spacious 
and flourishing orchards, replenished with fair and pleasant 
fruits ; and will afford pleasant gardens by much less labor and 
expense than in Europe, furnished with whatever herbs, flowers 
and plants you are pleased to put into the ground. Here are 
stocks of all sorts raised and maintained with little industry, 
and by better husbandry might be improved to a high degree! 
Here are all advantages imaginable for trade by water, "con- 
veniences for travel and transportation ; commodious, easy and 
pleasant roads. Here is a country capable of producing sundry 
staples, as hemp, flax, wool, silk, cotton, and wine too, and still 
overdo the tobacco trade."* 

Mr. William Anderson of Accomack, and our sturdy 
Scotch friend John Galbraith, will not think less of Mr. 
Makemie because of his practical genius and public 
spirit. 

Mr. Trail has left us, listening to the cry of Cale- 
donia for her scattered sons. Of the pastors driven to 
exile or death, only one in seven can be found for their 
destitute flocks. These vacant fields are exceedingly 
anxious to secure those ministers who amid the late 
persecutions refused to bend the knee to Baal. The 
pliant and wavering are not wanted. Although our 
Mr. Trail could never, as he says, look upon blood 
without fainting, yet who is able to name a time when 
his moral courage has been unequal to the demands 

* Makemie's Plain and Friendly Perswasive. 



l80 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1690. 

of the hour, whether in DubHn Castle, in the Lifford 
prison or in the American wilderness ? 

In February of this year Mr. Trail gave Mrs. Elinor 
a power of attorney to convey his land as soon as a 
purchaser can be found, and not long afterward sailed 
for Europe.* After what Scotland has done for us, it 
looks like ingratitude to resist his departure too stren- 
uously; for the country of the mother-Church is now 
more poorly supplied with ministers than our own 
Lower Peninsula. But the wilderness will appear 
more lonely now that his voice shall be heard no 
longer at Rehoboth and his form be seen no more 
among the growing maize at Brother's Love. 

Mr. Trail's going is an experiment as yet, for there 
are difficulties and dangers in Scotland, and King Wil- 
liam has many troubles to face in all his kingdoms. 
Mrs. Elinor remains to look after the property and 
await the result of her husband's reception beyond 
the deep. The war with the French, with their 
cruisers abroad and the consequent boldness of pirates 
upon our coast, makes it hazardous for her to attempt 
the voyage. We shall have the pleasure of the pres- 
ence among us of a minister's wife that much longer 
— an especially pleasant thought while Mr. Makemie 
persists in living a bachelor life. 

The king has approved the act of the Associators in 
Maryland and entrusted the government of the prov- 
ince to them and the Conventions. Under the repre- 
sentations so shrewdly used that our Maryland revolu- 
tion was a counterpart of the English revolution, made 
in behalf of his interests and with a view to his assum- 
ing the royal control, it was not to be expected that 

* Power of attorney on Somerset records. 



A. D. 1690.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 181 

he would condemn what they have done. Ours is now 
a Protestant government, the CathoHcs excluded from 
all participation in it; but whether the change will bring 
us good or evil remains to be seen. 

This year, while Colonel Francis Jenkins, Mr. 
Makemie's friend, was on the judicial bench, he was 
treated with contempt by Mr. Walter Lowe of our 
county. Mr. Lowe ought to have known that these 
are perilous times for friends of the proscribed relig- 
ion to provoke the hostility of the officers of the law. 
Even on the peaceful Eastern Shore, the smouldering 
enmity to Popery may be easily blown into a flam^. 
With no litde warmth. Colonel Jenkins declared that 
"he would not be affronted by any Irish Papist in the 
land."* 

The Quakers, too, are in danger of being treated 
with less leniency than under the Proprietary. During 
the same week John Booch was fined for wearing his 
hat in the presence of the court. 

By order of the Bench, the oath of allegiance and 
abhorrency was administered to our ferryman, John 
Moore, and to all officers, civil and military, in the 
county. Thus they swear that they abhor the doc- 
trines and practices of the Romish Church— an oath 
devised in England for excluding all persons of that 
faith from civil office. 

As a defence against all possible enemies, whether 
Indians, pirates, the French or imaginary dangers 
from the Papists, our county has its public arsenals 
—seventy-nine guns in all, distributed as follows: 
twelve at Edward Day's, six at Captain Winder's, 
fifteen at Colonel Brown's, ten at Mr. W^eatherby's' 

* Somerset records, 1690. So with other incidents. 



1 82 THE DAYS OF MAKE MI E. [A. D. 1690. 

twenty at Colonel Colburn's, six at Squire Layfield's, 
on the Rehoboth plantation, and ten on the seaside. 
So much for the safety and dignity of Somerset. 

Says Matchacoopah, 

" The loud-talking tomahawks of the white men 
command us all to be friends." 

We hear of a Presbyterian minister over in the 
Upper Marlborough settlement preaching to the 
Fifeshire Scotchmen — the Rev. Nathaniel Taylor. 
Thus our Church is taking possession of both the 
Eastern and the Western frontier of Maryland — 
Presbyterianism of the pure type.'^ 

A large colony of Huguenots, sent over to Virginia 
by King William, has settled on the south bank of 
James River, in Henrico county.f Our new Protest- 
ant king is proving himself a friend to the oppressed, 
and is endeavoring to secure entire toleration for all 
religions throughout his dominions. By supplying an 
asylum for the most valuable population and the best 
blood of France, he knows that he is indirectly strik- 
ing at the vitals of his great rival. 

Now news reaches us of our king's arrival in 
Ireland, and of his occupying, at Belfast, the house 
of Sir William Franklin. Sir William married the 
widow of the Earl of Donegal and has relatives 
in our own county. While the king was there, a 
deputation of Presbyterian ministers presented an 
address and were received with great favor. Soon 
afterward the royal bounty of twelve hundred pounds 
per annum was granted for the support of our ministry. 

Mr, Walker, with a delegation of Episcopal clergy- 
men, also waited upon the king. This is the Walker 
* Hodge, p. 57. I Campbell, p. 370. 



A. D. 1690.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 1 83 

who was subordinate governor during the siege of 
Derry, and who has since been arrogating to himself 
and his prelatic friends all the credit of that heroic 
defence, hurrying to England and publishing the one- 
sided account which depreciated the services of the 
Presbyterians and appropriated to himself stolen 
honors. It is known that he was more than once 
in favor of capitulation, and was seriously suspected 
lof treachery by the brave garrison. Some think that 
William's shrewdness is beginning to understand him.* 
This spring has been published Mackensie's narrative, 
exposing Walker. 

In trying to play its double game of loyalty to 
both James and William, Prelacy has been badly puz- 
zled. On the last Sabbath of June the bishops and 
other clergy in Dublin prayed zealously for the suc- 
cess of James and the destruction of his foes ; on the 
next Sabbath they paraded their prayers just as earn- 
estly for the triumph of William and the ruin of all 
his enemies ! So it has occurred, as has been said, 
that " four times in one year they have been praying 
backward and forward point-blank contradictory to 
one another." The doctrine of the divine right of 
kings has supplied a torturing dilemma for its ad- 
herents. 

Meanwhile, between these two Sabbaths, the battle 
of the Boyne has been fought, the army of the Irish 
routed, the cause of James wrecked. By that little 
river the contest for civil and religious liberty has 
been waged and won. The Londoner, the Scot, the 
English settler of Ulster, the Dutch Calvinist and the 
French Huguenot have stood side by side for the 

*Reid, ii. 402, etc.; Witherow's Derry, etc., chap. viii. 



1 84 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1690. 

right.* James re-embarks and flees back to France. 
At the Boyne, Dr. Walker has been killed, and his 
body left stripped and naked on the field. " What 
brought him there ?" was the abrupt question of Wil- 
liam when the death of the officious clergyman was 
reported to him.f 

In England the High Churchmen hate William for 
his tolerance of Dissenters, and would prefer the 
Heaven-ordained Popish king. The Tories in Parlia- 
ment refuse to take the oath abjuring the tyrant 
James. 

Next comes a sensation working its way over stream 
and through pine-forest from the Sinepuxent Shore. 
Not far from the wigwam of Queen Weocomoconus 
dwells the enemy to and one of the destroyers of an 
English throne. Often have I thought of the vener- 
able man on the plantation of Geneser whose dignity 
and military bearing so much impressed me at the 
house of Mr. Wale. Well do I now remember his 
evident interest in European affairs, notwithstanding 
his studied disguise of that interest. From among the 
Middletons of Accomack, where they still live, the old 
gentleman had come up to Mr. Wale's, on the Poco- 
moke, about ten years ago. Until now not a word 
has been heard of his previous life. At length there 
is no longer any reason for keeping the secret. The 
Stuarts hopelessly off the throne, none remain to 
avenge the death of the " martyr-king." The rev- 
olution assured, Major-General Edward Whalley, the 
** Regicide," and the trusted friend and counselor of 
his cousin Oliver Cromwell, may now own his identity 

* Knight, iv. 513. 

f Witherow's Derry and Enniskillen p. 310. 



A. D. 1690.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE, 1 8$ 

and his great name. The hero of many a fight, Nase- 
by, Langport, Bridgeport, Sherborne Castle, Bristol, 
Exeter, Oxford, Banbury Castle ; one of the fifty-nine 
judges who signed the death-warrant of Charles I., 
and who witnessed his execution; a fugitive for thirty 
years with a price on his head ; coming to New Eng- 
land with his son-in-law and fellow-regicide Goffe in 
1666, and retiring from Boston to Cambridge, to New 
Haven, to Milford, to Hadley, until, as they say in 
Connecticut, one died and the other went off " to the 
west toward Virginia," — now for some time he has 
been living obscurely among us, remembering in his 
great old age the stirring deeds of his youth, but 
breathing no word of reminiscence even to the melt- 
ing foam along the shore. Thus, with many others, 
he has awaited the fall of the hated dynasty (40). 

At last we hear of free meetings of the Presbyteries 
in Ireland — a glorious change from the dark days when 
a few outlawed ministers could stealthily assemble with 
closed doors only ! We think of the secret session in 
unrecorded privacy when our Makemie was ordained 
to the holy ministry — a sin and a crime in the eyes of 
prelates — and we thank God that Ulster at length is 
free. 

In Scotland, Presbyterianism is again the established 
religion. There, amid her hills and glens, had lived 
and triumphed the brave principles — almost dead else- 
where — which have finally delivered the empire from 
despotism. The land of martyrs has her reward. For 
the first time in forty years the General Assembly has 
now met, convening on the i6th of October and spend- 
ing the first day in fasting and prayer. 

Sitting as a member of this august Assembly, in 



1 86 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1690. 

sight of the horrid Bass, where both his father and his 
brother were once imprisoned, is our own Mr, Trail. 
Sir James Stewart, who married Mr. Trail's sister, has 
property and influence at Borthwick, and on the 26th 
of July our minister was called to that church, and 
installed there on the 17th of September. In the 
scarcity of ministers so sorely felt in Scotland, happy 
is the parish that secures one whose record is so spot- 
less. We feel it a privilege to send one of her sons 
back to the mother of martyred heroes. 

In one of the most important and eventful Assem- 
blies that ever sat on earth, with many and mighty 
problems facing them and awaiting solution, himself 
among the influences which are to mould the future 
of the great Church of Scotland, I wonder if Mr. 
Trail thinks now and then of the log house at Broth- 
er's Love and of his old friends in the valley of the 
Pocomoke ? 

While our late pastor is thus active in the cause of 
Presbyterianism across the ocean, Mr. Makemie is do- 
ing all he can to lay a sound basis of Calvinistic truth 
in America. Not only are his sermons sowing the 
seed up and down the coast, but from his home at 
Matchatank he has sent forth a Catechism of his own, 
full of the marrow of the gospel, for the indoctrination 
of the children of his people. Himself converted at 
fifteen years of age, this pioneer minister of our Church 
is zealously taking hold of the rising generation and ' 
trying to fortify their minds against the prevailing 
errors both of ignorance and of false doctrine. He 
well says : 

" The advantage of an early instruction is witnessed by the 
experiences of many godly of all ages, where attended with the 



A. D. 1690.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 1 8/ 

blessing of God and pursued with exhortation until they arrive 
at a riper age" (41). 

It is pleasant to meet with this little volume of forty 
or fifty pages in the homes of the colonists along the 
bright shores of the Chesapeake, on the banks of its 
many tributaries, under the shades of the solemn for- 
ests, along the sunny seaside ; these silent preachers im- 
pressing daily the great facts of Scripture from the 
first page, where the author begins, like the Bible 
itself, with the work of the omnipotent Creator, then 
on through his earnest exaltation of God's word as the 
only and sufficient rule of faith and practice, the mys- 
tery of the Trinity, the atonement of Christ, the office- 
work of the Spirit, the sanctity of the Sabbath, the 
duties to the ministry and of the ministry, the rever- 
ent use of the sacraments, the power of prayer. In 
this brief summary of doctrine and duty, Mr. Make- 
mie claims that he has embodied ''the judgement of 
all my brethren and particularly of those of the West- 
minster Assembly both in their Shorter and Larger 
Catechism." Brave and emphatic in his teachings, he 
thus fearlessly challenges the objector : 

" In the Catechism many savory truths delivered, no sins in- 
dulged, most duties relating to our general and special callings 
enjoined, now how the receiving such a form of sound words 
containing positive Divinity should be prejudicial, let every one 
determine." 

My honored father, watching all these movements 
with the eye of a philosopher, notices that the first lit- 
erary publication of our Eastern Shore is a religious 
book, and for the children. While Mr. John Locke 
issues from the press this year in England his Essay 
concerning the Human Understanding, Mr. Makemie is 



1 88 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1690. 

wisely laboring to preoccupy the understanding of the 
young with divine truth as a mighty factor in advanc- 
ing the Church of the future. 

Colonel Jenkins has been speaking to us of the 
shores of the Chesapeake as the birthplace of Amer- 
ican literature. The first American book was written 
by a man of action as well as of the pen, the chival- 
rous John Smith — A True Relation of Virginia, pub- 
lished in 1608, near the time and place of Mr. John 
Milton's birth. Virginia and Maryland one and the 
same then, we claim a share in the author's fame. 
So also in Percy's graphic description of the sufferings 
of the first colonists at Jamestown ; in Strachey's mag- 
nificent portraiture of the shipwreck at the Bermudas, 
which inspired Shakespeare's Tempest ; in the godly 
Whitaker's Good Nezvs from Virginia — his scholarly 
pictures of her needs, and his exhortation to come to 
her help with the gospel and to " remember that the 
plantation is God's and the reward your country's ;" a 
share in Secretary Pory's sketches of travel — more es- 
pecially because of his early visit to our own Lower 
Peninsula and account of it in 1620; and a share in 
the fame of the elegant translation of Ovid by George 
Sandys, who heeded in the wilderness the injunction 
addressed to him by the great poet Drayton : 

" Entice the Muses thither to repair ; 
Entreat them gently; train them to that air; 
For they from hence may thither hap to fly." 

The colonel spoke of young Maryland taking up 
the pen in the person of her Indian trader, Captain 
Fleet, in 163 1 and 1632; then of the elegant Latin 
narrative of Father Andrew White at the time of the 



A. D. 1690.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 1 89 

settlement (1634); then of the vigorous httle book 
called Leah and Rachel ; or, The Two Fruitful Sisters^ 
Virginia and Maryland, published by John Hammond 
in 1656; next of George Alsop's book published ten 
years after, A Character of the Province of Mary I and ^ 
roystering and verbose, but interesting — only the 
more so because written by an indentured servant 
who testifies that there were often intelligence and 
worth and happiness to be found among this class 
of our population. 

" Thus," said Colonel Jenkins, " has American liter- 
ature had her birth among the tributaries of the Ches- 
apeake, and there uttered her first Western lispings. 
Why shall not her warblings or her thunderings be 
heard on this side of the bay and along our own 
Pocomoke?" 

Meanwhile, our busy apostle is pushing his tent- 
making energetically. He says: 

" Have not the ministers of the reformed church of Scotland, 
these thirty years past, suffered persecution even unto death 
itself for preaching the Gospel under so much want that they 
have been necessitated to labor with their own hands and betake 
themselves for a time to merchandizing and yet never would 
dare to lay aside the preaching of the Gospel ? And it is not 
unknown how little ministers have had in maintenance in Mary- 
land."* 

On that shimmering arm of the bay, Matchatank, 
Mr. Makemie sees his sloop sailing away between the 
sand-islands and past the fishhawks' nests, bound for 
the broader waters with her cargo of wheat and 
pork, freighted for Barbadoes. Yonder flit the sea-birds 
again, as in other days among the shadows of Lough 
Swilly. He is a practical man of business, knows the 

* Answer to Keith. 



190 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1690. 

laws of trade and asserts his rights. Mr. WiUiam 
Finney sells him grain below the standard, and in 
November suit is brought and judgment obtained for 
" fifteen bushels of merchantable wheat to be delivered 
at the house of said Makemie at Matchatank." This 
same year he is assessed and pays for three tithables 
for the support of Mr. Teackle and the Episcopal 
church in Virginia. Laboring for his own bread, his 
people too poor to support him, our minister is com- 
pelled to contribute of his hard earnings for the main- 
tenance of a Church which despises and oppresses his 
faith (42). 

I have just learned the meaning of the playful bad- 
inage in Colonel Jenkins's manner while reading to 
Mr. Makemie the following extract from Alsop's 
wayward book : 

" The women are extremely bashful at the first view, but after 
a continuance of time hath brought them acquainted, then they 
become discreetly familiar, and are much more talkative than 
men. All Complimental Courtships, dressed up in critical Rari- 
ties, are mere strangers to them ; plain wit comes nearest their 
Genius ; so that he that intends to court a Mary-Land Girle, 
must have something more than the Tautologies of a long- 
winded speech to carry on his design, or else he may (for aught 
I know) fall under the contempt of her frown and his own windy 
Oration." 

But in this case she seems to be a Virginia " Girle ;" 
for there are intimations abroad, flitting about as briskly 
as the pinions of the water-gulls, that the minister sails 
up Pocomoke Sound oftener than his merchandise or 
his pulpit requires ; that on one of the streams below 
us is a sister whom our second Paul thinks he is 
entitled to lead about ; that a daughter of Accomack 
is capturing the heart of the lonely son of Donegal. 



CHAPTER XII. 
A. D. 1691. 

"It is the true character of a deceiver to possess others with preju- 
dices against our principles, only by misrepresenting them, and fasten- 
ing principles on us which we abhor," — Makemie. 

I HAVE not mentioned that my friend William has 
been clearing a little plantation for corn and tobac- 
co. The new house, of cypress logs and shingles, pre- 
sents an attractive appearance among the forest-trees, 
suggestive of some great happiness. Matchacoopah 
has been digging up the native honeysuckles and 
planting them all around the yard. Naomi has kept 
her secret, and I can keep mine. 

" Weetah-tomps " (** the dove ") " from the white man's 
land," says the Indian, " builds his nest in the flower- 
garden of Jaquokranogare and moans for a mate." * 

Well do I remember the Sabbath at Rehoboth be- 
fore Naomi became a bride. To us maidens never 
had Mr. Makemie looked so well or talked so beau- 
tifully. The pure cloudless azure bent very close 
while he said : 

" We have not this world but Heaven for our city. Therefore 
if we would expect Heaven in the end, we must begin and in 
some measure live a life of Heaven upon earth ; everything 
must tend Heavenward ; daily preparing for Heaven, and so 
speaking or acting as if you were bound for Heaven ; employed 
about Heavenly things, and elevated above the concerns of this 

*" Jaquokranogare " — Iroquois name for Maryland. 

19X 



192 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1691. 

lower world ; only using the most desirable things thereof, as 
travelers to the New Jerusalem, as if we used them not ;' making 
sure of an interest in the Heavenly Canaan ; making our ac- 
quaintance with the inhabitants of the Upper World, frequently 
conversing there by faith and contemplation, carrying on a con- 
stant trade and traffic with Heavenly prayer and supplication ; 
having our hearts and souls soaring aloft and ardently breathing 
after our crown and kingdom, placing our affections on things 
above where our treasures are; yea, our chief ends, aims and 
endeavors tending and inclining that way."* 

Notwithstanding the abounding wickedness abroad, 
while we listened that day our Western wilderness did 
not seem so far away from the celestial portals, after all. 
His figure of " carrying on a constant trade and traffic 
with Heaven " grew very naturally out of our pastor's 
commercial life. 

As particular friends of the Andersons, we were bid- 
den to the marriage. Peggy, the maid of Ulster, Mary, 
our rosy Scotch lassie, Margaret, the sweet singer of 
the Vincennes, and myself, helped to dress the bride 
and stood by her side. It was said that our smiles 
typified the benedictions of all classes of Presbyterian 
colonists upon the mating. Naomi, now in the full 
bloom of her twenty-second year, looked her loveliest, 
and Mr. Makemie, the handsome bridegroom, knew it, 
and would never be homesick any more for the green 
hills of Donegal — wedded henceforth for life and death 
to his holy mission in America. 

Madam Mary Anderson's fingers were full of gold 
rings, and her figure was arrayed in a gown and petti- 
coat of flowered silk whose cost we young ladies dis- 
covered to be over twelve pounds.f None but a 
Church-of-England clergyman or a justice of the 

* New York sermon. 

f Inventory of wardrobe : Accomack records. 



A. D. 1691.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. I93 

peace being authorized to perform the marriage cere- 
mony in Virginia, Mr. Anderson could fill the latter 
office very conveniently for the occasion. I think 
they are proud of their son-in-law. Mr. Makemie 
leaves his Matchatank plantation and will make his 
future home near the Pocomoke, and nearer to us all. 

Amid the general gladness, it amuses the guests to 
hear Mr. Makemie's Scotch-Irish dialect pronouncing 
our river "the Poccamok."* 

The New World has rewarded her evangelist with a 
helpmeet whose name is ** Pleasantness " (43). 

Our return up " the Poccamok " was cheered with 
the odors of the marsh-grasses, fragrant as smell of 
thyme-beds. Passing the clearing of friend William, 
our Huguenot songstress charmed us with one of the 
sweetest canzos of the Troubadours. 

While we still talk of our minister's young wife, 
Mrs. Elinor Trail goes from our circles for ever to 
rejoin her husband at Borthwick. On the 25th of 
April she succeeds in selling their plantation to Mr. 
Archibald White.f Their work here is done — God's 
purposes are served. The name *' Brother's Love " will 
perpetuate the fame of the good man and woman, and 
Rehoboth must not forget them. 

During the same month, Tuesday, April 2, Mr. 
Makemie preached a funeral sermon in the Reho- 
both church on the text, " The last enemy that shall 
be destroyed is death." 

On reaching the little town we noticed Mr. William 
Morris, who lives near Dividing Creek, and who was 
fined three years ago for drunkenness and breach of 

* So spelled in his Answer to Keith, 
f Deed on Somerset records. 
13 



1^4 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1691. 

the Sabbath, again mtoxicated beyond =elf-controh 
His hardened ravings in such close contact wth death 
were horrible to witness. But in this new land s n is 
brazen and defiant, and sinners will not think. Well 
does Mr. Makemie ask: 

or p "cod? Jore especially if they were takmg a v.ew 
or praism„ uoa , ^^.-(.ount, that is to be given at the 

that impartial judgment. * 

Alas! this direful appetite drives men wildly into 
the very face of death and judgment, and of all law, 
both human and divine. 

Toward night the besotted man went over to the 
house of one of the justices of the peace, Mr. Edmund 
Howard, and thus put himself directly under the eye 
of one of the county officers. There, in the presence 
of Dr John Vigerous and his daughter Anne, he con- 
tinued to blurt out the most fearful oaths against Mr_ 
Makemie and against death and against our blessed 
Saviour, reiterating his shocking blasphemies until 
after midnight (44). 

Of course the wicked man was arrested and brought 
to trial. Here is the law under which he stands in- 
dicted : ,, , 

* New York sermon. 



A. D. 1691.J THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 



195 



"Whosoever blasphemes God, viz.. to curse him or deny the 
Saviour Jesus Christ to be the Son of God, or shall deny the 
Trinity, or the godhead of any of the three persons thereof, or 
the Trinity or Unity of the godhead, or shall use or utter any 
reproachful speeches concerning the same or any of the three 
persons thereof, shall suffer deaths 

During the progress of the trial, by the help of some 
unknown person, the guilty man escaped, and cannot 
be found. In November pay was asked of the court 
by Samuel Shewel for searching for him as far as 
Philadelphia, and for six days' fare at Assateague 
with the emperor Toattam and two days among the 
Indians at Assawaman. Such is the horror for this 
great crime, and such the zeal for its punishment. 

Though Mr. Makemie cares nothing for the re- 
proaches against himself, he is not indifferent to the 
enormity of such crimes, and advocates the execution 
of the laws. He says : 

" Some offences are cognizable by officers and magistrates in 
the State as all are censurable by the ministry ; and what they 
cannot do by the Word, the magistrate is to do by the sword. 
For magistracy is an ordinance of God and they are invested 
with his own name—' I have said ye are gods ;' and they are 
appointed not to be a terror to good works but to evil, Rom. xiii. 
3. That the magistrate may do his duty, penal laws against 
vice and immorality must be made, and no Christian state 
can be safe without them. Would beastly drunkenness be so 
common, swearing and cursing so ordinary a dialect, whore- 
dom so impudent, profanation of the Lord's day so visible and 
frequent, if our rulers and magistrates everywhere were spirited 
with zeal for putting our penal laws in execution against scandal- 
ous offences ? Would to God such as are in authority and vested 
with the sword of justice were exercising it boldly and faithfully 
against sin and all immoralities in life, and that impartially ac- 
cordmg to their oaths of office." * 

I must mention a Quaker sensation this year— the 

* New York sermon. 



196 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1691. 

greatest since their famous founder went blazing like a 
meteor through our colony twenty years ago. Just as 
we hear of the death of George Fox in England, and 
of William Penn's venturing out of his hidmg-place to 
attend the burial of the great Mystic in Bunhill Fields,* 
there comes another inspired apostle through our 
county from Mr. Penn's province, attended by a 
retinue of supporters and denouncing all who will 
not accept the tenet of Quaker infallibility. A man 
of far more learning than his predecessor, and evi- 
dently far less honest, a partisan presumptuous and 
ago-ressive, some of his sect believe that the mantle 
of^George Fox has fallen upon this George Keith. 
Among these strange people there are many excellent 
Christians, but it is a pity that they are not satisfied 
with the enjoyment of their own views without in- 
dulging in such bitter denunciations of others. Ad- 
vocates of non-resistance and of peace in the state, 
the most of their leaders have been anything but 
friends of peace in the kingdom of Christ. 

This present champion of the Inner Light is a na- 
tive of Aberdeen, Scotland, and was educated at its 
university-a classmate of Gilbert Burnet, the present 
Bishop of Salisbury. Keith was originally a Presby- 
terian, but turned Quaker, and has been prolific of 
books in advocacy of Quaker principles. On com- 
ing to America he settled at Monmouth, New Jer- 
sey and was afterward made surveyor-general of that 
province. Four years ago he ran the boundary-line 
between East and West Jersey. In 1689 he took 
charge of the Friends' public school in Philadelphia.? 

*Macaulay, iv, 19. 

t Anderson's History of the Colonial Church, iii. 222, etc. 



A. D. 1691.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 197 

Mr. Makemie says in reply to the charge of preaching 
for money : 

" I know not what evasion can be found for Keith's hundred 
pounds per annum settled on him by the Government in Penn- 
sylvania, exacted of a mixed people, who neither hear him nor 
enjoy any benefit or advantage from his school-keeping." ^ 

Exposing this expedient of the Quakers to support 
their preacher by public tax, our minister declares : 

"This is their only shift and back-door they would flv out 
at." ^ 

In the midst of Keith's present crusade against all 
but Quakers, a report reaches us that he is not upon 
good terms with a large element of his own sect at 
home— that the Friends in Pennsylvania are not in- 
ternally altogether friendly. 

Mr. Makemie has told us of Keith's " malicious, un- 
charitable book against New England ministers." Now 
his chief assaults are upon our pastor and his Catechism. 
With so much wickedness around us, it is sad that the 
learning and ability of this man could not be expend- 
ed in a better way than in attacking God's people, but 
our minister tells us that ** Keith's trade has been to 
foment contention and stir up strife in the churches 
of Christ." The sacred beliefs once loved by him 
are now the most hated, for, according to Mr. Make- 
mie, " Keith's invidious malice is most commonly set 
against the Reformed Chuch of Scotland, verifying 
the ancient and common saying, Omnis apostata sua 
secte^iosor!' 

At the house of Squire Layfield, the learned Quaker 
wrote out and left a review of the Catechism of Mr. 

* Makemie's Anszver to Keith. So other quotations f blowing. 



igS THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 169.. 

Makemie. This popular co..pendium of precious 
truth he is very anxious to uproot from its strong 
Ltin ourfanJies. Growing bolder d^- A- 
„ack, and unwilling to leave so able -^'^^^^^^^^^ 
er undemolished behind him, he and his admirers 
nress the war to Mr. Makemie's very doors Soon 
E;: a great flourish °f --P-s J- «J 
utter rout of our minister, boasting of a challenge 10 
TusTon given and weakly declined P-^y-— 
discomfited, Quakerism triumphant! Such report 
£ve b en diligently circulated everywhere^ from 
Houlston-s Creek to the Wicomico F om Mr 
Makemie himself we have since had a full account 
of the matter : 

.,1 .ad a visit from Keith at rny ho- in ^^ 

though promised and ^-^^^^J^^y^^^^^^-oon-, -^^ -^^ 
day, was not performed until baturaay in 

the uncertainty of his coming, -^^P'^'^^^^f °J,~ally. At 
,„y fnends P--f ■ ^^f-X^S q^ernt^ncLning 
which time we had several charges ^"^^ B„t I wish 

several things which were too tedious to ^-^^^l'^ ,^,.. 

they had been recorded then to Pf^^^^^^y^ there was no 
tions spread abroad by^^'P^'^-^/'ltilnofto dispute with 
real debate, and he "" '""^ ";;'^ „'^^/,ttory Vet after more 

reasons : i-.f^mime never unani- 

•■First, Their principles were ""^"°:™' ^^^;'"^^rid . therefore 

mously agreed upon "" f^^'^ P.f '^^gtlnd wlwould dispute 

not to be disputed with in words. Sec"™ ' L ,,ould be most 

before an ^g-™" -^^.i^^-^tare h t d ""^"^ >-™'"^ 

incompetent judges. Third, Because ne ^ ^^ not 

and I must follow, and so what should be ^^eUvered 

tend to their edification but fall to the ground and be lost 

^ But afterward I gave him a challenge to oppose my Gate 

chismVprTnaples in writing, and he should have an answer to 



A. D. 1 69 1.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 1 99 

every particular. Keith gave not the least intimation of the 
paper left behind him, though he dropped an expression which 
I understood not then, That he would write no more than he had 
done. This I took for dechning my challenge. 

" Now I leave it to all to determine whose challenge or over- 
ture was fairest. For, First, What either of us should deliver 
should be on record and we could not fly from it. Second, If 
the hearing a verbal debate in angry words should edify, much 
more a written debate frequently read over. Third, Many might 
be judges of a written debate who had no opportunity of hearing 
it disputed publicly." 

In this face-to-face encounter on the banks of the 
" Poccamok " there was unquestionably some sharp 
work done between the son of the University of 
Aberdeen and the son of the University of Glasgow 
— this North-Scotland Mystic and this North-Ireland 
Calvinist. We know that our minister did not spare 
the pretensions of their preachers, male and female, to 
** an immediate, extraordinary and Apostolic call, of 
which," he says, " Keith in a vain manner has boasted 
and affirmed at my house." Unflinchingly Mr. Make- 
mie pressed the charge published in his Catechism — 
that Quakers are enemies to the Sabbath — and he sus- 
tained the charge by mention of names and places ; 
but he says : 

" Notwithstanding all reasons given to Keith and others, they 
seem still to be dissatisfied, but it is for the most part the temper 
of such as wrangle and oppose all reasoning. I am the more 
confirmed in that which I charged him with at my house, That 
most of his writings are quibbling controversies and his debates 
a disputing about words, little to the edification of souls." 

After the visit to Mr. Makemie, Keith went to Snow 
Hill and there made flagrant misrepresentations of the 
conversation to Mr. Samuel Davis. Our minister has 
since declared : 



200 THE DA YS OF MAKE A/IE. [A. D. 1691. 

" I must greatly suspect what Keith told me at my house as 
another lie and calumny, That Mr. John Cotton of Hampton, in 
New England, acknowledged in a public dispute that he derived 
his ordination from the Pope. And the rather because he abused 
me, upon his return, to Mr, Davis, affirming the same thing of 
me, That 1 owned our mission and ordination from the Pope of 
Rome. I am confident his own conscience could not but witness 
the contrary to his face. For I not only abhorred, disclaimed 
and denied it, but positively and plainly affirmed our mission 
was from Jesus Christ and warranted from the Scriptures." 

Such has been the first theological tilt in the birth- 
place of American Presbyterianism. This is not the 
end. Mr. Makemie has secured from Squire Layfield" 
Keith's manuscript strictures upon the Catechism, and 
is preparing a reply for publication. He is a man of 
peace, but now they have aroused him ; and my 
father's opinion is that the Quaker aggressors will 
be severely handled. Our minister says : 

" This debate was first set on foot by themselves and, by pro- 
moting it, gave occasion for laying open both their principles and 
their practices more in these corners of the world than they have 
yet been." 

I have heard Mr. Makemie summing up certain of 
the defects of this Quaker sect as follows : 

" They cannot be looked upon as a church ; having not unani- 
mously and fairly or faithfully published all their opinions and 
principles ; which is the cause many espouse they know not 
what. They have not in any of their writings declared their 
church order, constitution, government nor discipline. They 
have no orderly way of admission for teaching-officers, but as 
many men and women as say the Spirit of the Lord is upon 
them, must be received though they can give no convincing 
proof but to those already deluded to their way. From which 
they want [are without] the pure and powerful preaching of the 
Gospel and all administration of the sacraments, which they rid- 
icule rather than own. They hold or maintain a common Christ 
in all, even in the reprobate in whom the Spirit of God, says 



A. D. 1 691.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 201 

Christ, is not ; and a sufficient saving light and grace in all, 
even the children of darkness ; denying original and damnable 
guilt in any infants even in their natural state ; raihng against 
singing of Psalms ; denying the resurrection of the same body ; 
many of them scoffing at the imputed righteousness of Christ for 
our justification and salvation, maintaining an absolute perfection 
for many years in this life by a Popish possibility of keeping all 
God's commands, of which neither they nor Papist could ever in 
any age produce one known instance." 

This demand for an example of sinless perfection is 
a severe test for the dogma. 

With our sweet-voiced Huguenot, I have been talk- 
ing about the deliverance from persecution just effect- 
ed for the Waldenses by the treaty between the Duke 
of Savoy and our Protestant king.* To the same brave 
heart she looks hopefully for the relief of her friends 
from continued barbarities in Southern France. Mar- 
garet has lately been up to the shop of Mr. John Dor- 
man, at Snow Hill, and from his stock — of ironware and 
drygoods, hoes, axes, stirrup-leathers, linens, stuffs, silks, 
serges, hats, haberdashery ware and hoods t — she has 
purchased herself a very nice silk gown and petticoat. 
I am a little suspicious. 

The war in Ireland is over. At Aghrim, Mackay 
the Puritan and Ruvigny the Huguenot have met 
the army under Saint Ruth — "the hangman," as he 
is called by the oppressed in France — and the hangman 
is killed and his forces are routed. Limerick falls, and 
Tyrconnel, the viceroy of James, dies drinking and 
jesting, struck with apoplexy. The Presbyterians of 
Ulster are worshiping without molestation. Their 
Synod meets and shows its characteristic zeal for 
securing an educated ministry. 

* Knight, iv. 530. 

f Dorman's stock this year : Somerset records. 



302 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1691. 

In Scotland the prelates and Jacobites are thorough- 
ly united and doing what they can to obstruct our 
Church. Because they cannot tyrannize as he eto- 
fore over their late victims, they are ra.smg a loud 
cry of persecution. In England the non-juring High 
Churchmen have been detected in inviting an invasion 

'^'TlUWrdoes not increase our desire for the estab- 
lishment of the Church of England in Maryland. Its 
adherents are in the majority, and are determined no 
to rest content without state support. Rev. Mr. Yeo 
cry of fifteen years ago and Rev. Mr. Coode s long- 
delayed ambition have an echo in the hearts and on 
the lips of many impatient partisans. Not very pleas- 
antly do some of us remember that this year again Mr. 
Makemie is taxed three tithables for the support of Mr. 
Teackle and that grasping church in Virginia. 

Sir Lionel Copley has been appointed royal gov- 
ernor, and will reach our province some time next 
year. Thus we have passed directly under the ad- 
ministration of the Crown. Our county lawyer, Mr^ 
Peter Dent, has become attorney-general of Maryland 
—an honor to the Somerset bar. 

We are glad that the English government orders 
that the act of outlawry against our rightful Proprie- 
tary be removed, and that his lawful revenues with- 
held by the Convention, be henceforth duly paid him ; 
but he is to have no civil authority in the province. 

My friend William has just dropped a tear to the 
memory of the great Baxter. During this last month 
of the year, "the Kidderminster bishop," as Jettreys 
called him, has loosed from earth and gone peaceful- 
, home-yea, to " the saint's everlasting rest. I his 



A. D. 1691.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 203 

year has Mr. John Flavel also ascended to his reward. 
On the shelves of our minister's growing library I find 
several of the sweet books of this good man. 

And now the year is approaching its close with an 
anxiety in our hearts lest another may pass from our 
earth who would leave as great a vacancy here as 
Baxter and Flavel left in England. I have not men- 
tioned the tedious affliction which has fallen upon our 
own Makemie. What is to be the result ? Our ''mod- 
erate climate and Northern latitude, suitable and agree- 
able to European bodies, the same with the Mediter- 
ranean," as he has heartily described it,— is it to 
undermine his health and drive him from us, after 
all? I am glad that God and Virginia have given 
him Naomi to brighten these months of suffering. 

From Mr. Makemie's library I take down a volume 
of the sainted Flavel and read : 

" It is a certain truth that all the results and issues of Prov- 
idence are profitable and beneficial to the saints." 

Our pastor is not ignorant of the sustaining power 
of religion. He who faced unshrinkingly the darken- 
ing clouds of persecution which overhung the years 
of his consecration to the ministry, from 1680 to 1682, 
knows what it is to trust and be strong. I have heard 
him speak very beautifully of "the experiences of 
thousands of the godly, of ravishings of soul, and 
ineffable joy and comfort from praising God " (45). 

Meanwhile, the great Manager has been making 
provision in his own way for our afflicted Makemie 
and his fellow-laborers. While the sunshine of August 
was beaming upon the sparkling waters of the Anna- 
messex and keeping in tune the trill of the red-winged 



204 THE DA YS OF MAKE M IE. [A. D. 1691. 

blackbirds in the marshes, our bachelor Scotch mer- 
chant passed from earth to be seen in his accustomed 
place in the Rehoboth and Monokin churches no 
more for ever. God had taught him to love his 
servants. I will preserve the will, for the incorrig- 
ible Henry Hudson questions whether there is more 
of pork or piety in the document : 

" In the name of God Amen. The twelfth day of August in 
the year of our Lord God one thousand six hundred and ninety 
and one. I John Galbraith, of Somerset county and Province 
of Maryland, merchant, being sick in body but of good and per- 
fect memory, thanks be to Ahiiighty God, and caUing to remem- 
brance the uncertain estate of this transitory hfe, and that all 
flesh must yield unto death when it shall please God to call ; do 
make, constitute, ordain and declare this my last will and testa- 
ment, in manner and form following, revoking and annulling by 
these presents all and every testament and testaments heretofore 
by me made and declared either by word or writing, and this to 
be taken only for my last will and testament and none other. 

"And first, being penitent and sorry from my very heart for 
my sins past, most humbly desiring forgiveness of the same, I 
give and commit my soul to the Almighty God my Saviour and 
Redeemer, in whom and by the merits of Jesus Christ I trust 
and believe assuredly to be saved and have full remission and 
forgiveness of all my sins, and that my soul with my body at 
the day of resurrection shall rise again with joy and through 
the merits of Christ's death and passion and inherit the kingdom 
of Heaven prepared for his elect and chosen ; and my body to 
the earth, to be buried decently at the discretion of my executor 
hereafter named." 

Thus the sturdy old believers of this generation aim 
to put on record their calm faith in the face of death, 
their clear views of God's plan of salvation and the 
soundness of their theology. Whoever should read 
over the wills made during these years in Somerset 
county would have no small knowledge of divinity. 
He proceeds : 



A. D. 1 69 1.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 



205 



"And now for settling my temporal estate and such goods and 
debts as it hath pleased God far above my deserts to bestow upon 
me, I do order, give and dispose of the same in manner and form 
following ; that is to say, first, I will that all those debts and 
duties I owe in right or conscience to any person or persons 
whatsoever, shall be well and truly contented and paid or or- 
damed to be paid within convenient time after my decease by 
my executor hereafter named. 

"I give and bequeath unto Mr. Samuel Davis, minister at 
Snow Hill, in the county and province aforesaid, five thousand 
pounds of pork convenient within twelve months after my de- 
cease to be delivered unto the said Samuel Davis or his order. 
" I give and bequeath unto Mr. Francis Makemie, minister of 
the Gospel at Rehoboth Town, within the said county and prov- 
mce, five thousand pounds of pork convenient to him or his 
order within twelve months next after my decease. 

" I give and bequeath unto Mr. Thomas Wilson, minister of 
the Gospel at Monokin, in the county and province aforesaid, 
five thousand pounds of pork, to him or his order within twelve 
months after my decease. 

" I give and bequeath all the rest of my goods, chattels, debts, 
house, land, and all other things belonging to me in any manner 
of way whatsoever, as well elsewhere as in this aforesaid prov- 
ince, both at home and now abroad, unto my trusty and well- 
beloved friend Major Robert King of Monokin in the county 
and province aforesaid, and to his heirs and assigns. And I, the 
said John Galbraith, do by these presents constitute, ordain and 
appoint my well-beloved friend Major Robert King aforesaid my 
whole and sole executor and administrator, duly and truly to ex- 
ecute and perform this my last will and testament. 

" In confirmation and full assurance of the truth above written 
that this is my last will and testament. I the said John Galbraith 
have hereunto set my hand and fixed my seal at Annamessex 
the day and year first above written " (46). 

Pretending not to know that pork is a merchantable 
legal tender, our mischievous Henry rejoices that for 
once the ministers' smoke-houses and pewter platters 
will be well filled. The names of Makemie, Trail, 
Davis and Wilson now adorn our county records. 

This eventful year goes out with the hearts of East- 



2o6 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. .69<. 

em-Shore Presbyterians very anxious about the health 
of their pastor. Says Matchacoopah : 

"While the good man is hunt-oi-mip and wee-sa- 
^ayu" ("sick and yellow") "Pocomoke looks oas- 
kay-u, tah-ki-u ^M dah-gua-an-u" ("black, cold and 
sorrowful "). 



CHAPTER XIII. 
A. D. 1692. 

*' You must not imagine to build a righteous Superstructure upon a 
rotten and sinful foundation," — Makemie. 

BROTHER JOHN, the mighty hunter, is rejoicing 
in the invention of the flintlock, just now com- 
ing into use in place of the old wheel-locks. The one 
sent him from England, and missing fire no more than 
half the time, signalizes for him this year of grace. 
He has lately been with Matchacoopah up to the 
beaver-dams, on the road toward the old Bucking- 
ham plantation of Colonel Stevens, and has come 
home rich in spoils. The Indian says, 

" The little stone spit its fire, and Nataque " (the 
beaver) " was so astonished he fell down and died." 

On their way back, around by the town of Askim- 
mekonson, John bought a fan made of the feathers of 
the heron, the marsh-hen and the red-bird, and has 
hurried with it over to the house of our Huguenot 
maiden. His haste in delivering the fan is remark- 
able, when we remember that it is cold winter- 
time. 

In February, Mr. Makemie becomes the owner of 
four hundred and fifty acres more of land, under the 
Virginia law which gives fifty acres for every new set- 
tler brought into the province. The certificate is grant- 

207 



208 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1692. 

ed by the Accomack court under rights of the following 
nine : Francis Makemie, his nephew William Boggs, 
Mr. Allen, Eliza Clayton, Matthew Spicer, Ruth 
Smith, negroes Major and Mary, and an Indian 
named " Peter " (47). We are glad to see our pas- 
tor attaching himself more closely to the soil. This 
year he pays for four tithables to the support of the 
Established Church. Can it be entirely comfortable 
for Mr. Teackle and Mr. Monroe to live upon the 
scant salary and business labors of the Presbyterian 
minister? Mr. John Monroe is now rector of the 
parishes of Hungar's and Nuswuddux, in Northamp- 
ton, lately united and called *' Hungar's." * 

Reports are reaching us of the witchcraft excite- 
ment in New England — Salem wildly bewildered. 
When they tell us of these distressing troubles in 
the house of the Rev. Mr. Parris, and of Mr. Cotton 
Mather's faith in these things, what are we to think ? 
But I fear that Maryland is becoming almost as sadly 
bewitched with the desire to establish Episcopacy. 

During the spring our new governor arrives. On 
the 9th of April he appears before the Convention in 
St. Mary's, shows his commission and dissolves the 
body, which was called by the Associators and which 
has been legislating for two years. Copley issues a 
proclamation to all the counties to elect burgesses to 
an Assembly to be convened at early date. The Som- 
erset court directs the constables to notify all qualified 
freeholders to meet at the court-house on the 28th of 
April to cast their votes. This symbol of the rights 
of freemen is greatly prized by the colonists — a pre- 
rogative which has been theirs from the first settle- 

* Bishop Meade's Old Churches, i. 2 5 8. 



A. D. 1692.] THE DA YS OF MAKE M IE. 2O9 

ment; of which they were very jealous under the Pro- 
prietary; and which they expect to keep inviolate un- 
der the royal government. The qualification for both 
a burgess and an elector is the fee-simple of fifty acres 
of land or the ownership of forty pounds sterling of 
personal property. But many are too poor to vote. 

Quakers and Episcopalians are very active in the 
canvass. An impression is abroad that there is much 
at stake religiously. This is a strong Quaker county, 
and the rest of the Protestant vote is divided. 

The important Thursday comes, and the narrow 
roads are lined with electors coming from all parts of 
the county to the one appointed place for voting. You 
see upon the riders the conscious dignity of the fran- 
chise. The crowd increases, until the court-house 
grounds are thronged with noisy talkers. 

The county is entitled to four burgesses, and the 
contest is sharp. It is needless to say that the " hot 
waters " flow, and that there is no little indignation 
against the four-pence-per-gallon tax upon the impor- 
tation of this popular luxury. On the bench is an 
imposing array to superintend the important ballot, 
Francis Jenkins presiding, sustained by his father-in- 
law, Robert King, John Winder, James Dashiel, James 
Round, Samuel Hopkins, Thomas Jones, John King 
and George Lay field. All the majesty of the law is 
required to maintain order among the excited colonists. 
Finally, the result of the poll is declared, and rounds 
of huzzahs ascend over the success of the Rev. John 
Hewett, Captain William Whittington, Mr. Thomas 
Evernden and Mr. John Goddin. 

Mr. Hewett has been preaching in the county over 
twelve years. Of course the Episcopalians are jubi- 

14 



2IO THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1692. 

lant at his success and cannot disguise their chief 
motive in the election. The Quakers are no less 
elated at the triumph of Evernden and Goddm. 
Evernden is a prominent man among them, and is 
now married to the widow of Georg^J[ohnson, one 
of our first judges, and ''the Proteus of heresy," as 
Colonel Scarborough called him. 

The Assembly met in May, and soon some of us m 
Somerset are having a good laugh. Hewett, Evernden 
and Goddin are disqualified and cannot take their seats 
—the first because of a law excluding ministers, and 
the other two because of their refusal to take the oath. 
Our Captain Whittington alone sits as burgess.* 

Governer Copley in his opening message shows a 
just appreciation of the rights of all parties and urges 
moderation. None can reasonably object to his wise 
words : 

"The making of wholesome laws, and laying aside all heats 
and animosities that have happened amongst you of late, will go 
far towards laying the foundation of lasting peace and happmess 
to yourselves and your posterity. And this. I know, will be very 
acceptable to their Majesties, who are eminent examples ot Chris- 
tian and peaceable tempers. " 

But the Church of England has the ascendency of 
numbers in the Assembly, and there is to be no mod- 
eration. After an address to their Majesties, the very 
next act is what they call ''An Act for the Service of 
Almighty God and the Establishment of the Protestant 
Religion." Correctly interpreted, this means "An Act 
for the Service of Prelacy and its Enthronement upon 
the Neck of all other Systems." We now become 
Dissenters from the State-Church of Maryland. The 

* For election and other facts, Somerset records. 



A. D. 1692.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 211 

counties are to be laid out into parishes, and a tax of 
forty pounds of tobacco per poll for every taxable is 
to be collected by the sheriff This is to be used in 
building its churches and paying its clergy."^ The 
poor in our struggling churches, unable to support 
our own ministers comfortably, must contribute of 
their hard earnings to strengthen the Church which 
drove them from Europe. 

The news from over the sea is not of a character to 
reconcile us to the change. The bishops in Ulster are 
beginning to obstruct the king's tolerant policy toward 
the Presbyterians, though they there number fifty to 
one Episcopalian. In Scotland, too, certain disagree- 
ment between the General Assembly and the king has 
supplied Prelacy an opportunity to show what it would 
do if again in the ascendency. While England is suf- 
fering great scarcity from bad crops, is bled by the 
rise and reign of stock-jobbing, and is dispirited by the 
French victories at Namur and at Steinkirk, a plot is 
discovered for the assassination of King William by 
the emissaries of James. All this hatred is encouraged 
by the High-Ghurch party. And now, while the whole 
empire murmurs at heavy taxation, new taxes are to be 
levied upon 2is to pamper this ungracious Ghurch. 
Margaret tells us of its bad treatment, at this very 
time, of the Huguenots in Carolina — denied the 
rights of subjects, their estates liable to forfeiture, 
their marriages pronounced void and their children 
bastardized. These things do not lessen our solici- 
tude at the sudden aggrandizement of Episcopacy 
among us. Meanwhile, the terrific earthquake in 
Jamaica, the frightful shocks in Europe, the unusual 

^Bishop Hawks's Maryland, p. 71. 



212 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1692. 

activity of all her great volcanoes, fill the mind with 
apprehension of some vast calamity.* 

The work goes on. In our county, commissioners 
from the various hundreds have been appointed to lay 
out the parishes, and on the report of this commission 
four parishes have been constituted, as follows (48) : — 
Monokin and Mony Hundreds into one parish, called 
"Somerset;" Pocomoke and Annamessex into one, 
called "Coventry;" Wicomico and Nanticoke into 
one, called " Stepney ;" Bogatenorton and Matapony 
into one, called " Snow Hill." This report was made 
and approved on the 22d of November before their 
Majesties' justices of the peace. A meeting of free- 
holders is ordered on the 27th of December for elect- 
ing six vestrymen for each parish, according to law, the 
freeholders of Monokin and Mony to meet at Somerset 
Town ; of Pocomoke and Annamessex, at Pocomoke 
church ; of Wicomico and Nanticoke, at the house of 
the Rev. John Hewett; of Bogatenorton and Mata- 
pony, at Snow Hill. For the elated Episcopalians it 
will be a delightful addition to the festivities of the 
Christmas holidays. 

It looks strange to see Colonel Brown, Colonel 
Jenkins and other Presbyterians, as county officials, 
assisting in carrying into effect the law for the estab- 
lishment of the Church of England, but there are not 
a few who think it will be better than to be at the 
mercy of Popery, accepting the former as the lesser of 
two evils. Lord Baltimore himself was tolerant and 
gracious to all, but in this he never satisfied l)is own 

*Reid, ii. 415,419; Hetherington, p. 308; Macaulay and Knight, 
in loco ; Anderson's Colonial Church, ii. 465 ; Evelyn's Diary, pp. 
551. 709- 



A. D. 1692.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 213 

Church, and evidently provoked thereby the enmity 
of the Jesuit advisers of James. No one can tell how 
soon the peace policy might have been changed into 
one of bloody persecution. Though we must pay this 
forty-pounds tax to an adverse system for protection, 
there are those who think we shall be safer under the 
pacific influence of William and the reign of law than 
we were before. 

With others there is bitter opposition and great ex- 
citement ; they still bear the scars inflicted by Episco- 
pacy in the old country. Some think that the levy 
cannot be enforced ; the resolute Quakers will resist it 
with all their might. I have obtained, and I put upon 
record, the tax-assessments per poll for four years : 
1689, 58 lbs. tobacco; 1690, 88 lbs.; 1691, 31 lbs.; 
1692, 176 lbs.* This is a heavy increase. 

Loathing Popery with all his soul, Mr. Makemie has 
but little more respect for the High-Church party 
among the Prelatists. He admires King William 
and feels kindly toward moderate Episcopalians like 
Burnet and Tillotson. While thanking God for the sea- 
sonable revolution and the degree of liberty secured 
to Dissenters in the British Isles, he thus expresses 
his mind freely of another class still rampant across 
the sea : 

" I wish the persecuting spirit and inclination were gone too, 
and that many unaw^ares were not promoting and encouraging 
again the old malice and grand designs of the common enemy 
by their tongues, in railing, reproaching, and decrying a great 
part of the purest Reformation, under the discriminating names 
of Presbyterian, Puritan, Fanatic, Calvinist, and what not ? 
How many are simply led away by a hot, violent party and 
suffer themselves to be imposed upon, who know not the mat- 

* Somerset records. 



214 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1692. 

ters of our lesser differences and say nothing of intolerable 
p'^ery and the most dangerous heretics, but al then^mdust^^^^ 
ous venom is spewed out and leveled agamst their Piotestant 
brethren of the same Reformation. * 

Mr. Makemie pillories that class in the Anglican 
Church who hate the present king for his kindness to 
Dissenters, and who would gladly restore the Popish 
James to secure new barbarities against the Presby- 
terians. 

We are rejoicing that our minister has at last re- 
covered from his long affliction. Do not the water- 
lilies at Rehoboth wear happier faces than ever? 
Says Matchacoopah, 

-The waters of Pocomoke sing and dance and 
laugh" {imck-und-oh2.XiA zdoh-cumb and ivi-aih-e-mit- 

a- ha). 

How full of laughter that last Indian word 1 
Mr. Makemie's first strength is used for copying out 
for publication his Anszver to Keith's attack on his 
Catechism. This he completes at Rehoboth on the 
26th of July— the first book ever born along our little 
river. Literature and Presbyterianism are making joint 
claim that there is room for both on the Eastern Shore. 
The author's confidence in the truth appears in these 
words : 

.. They boasted of a victory, which if they find after a dih^f^^ 
perusal and impartial consideration of these sheets, let them im- 
prove and post if they will." t 

After long laboring to the southward of us, in Vir- 
ginia and Carolina and Barbadoes, our zealous mis- 
sionary keeps his eye on the country farther north. 
Corresponding with the New England divines, he has 

* Truths in a True Light. t '^'"«"^^- ^' ^'^^^' 



A. D. 1692.] THE DAYS OF MAKE MI E. 21 5 

never lost sight of the vast regions lying between 
them and him. Philadelphia is growing rapidly, and 
his natural forecast sees in that central town a strong 
strategic point for the future advancement of our 
Church. Accordingly, he determines this year upon 
another apostolic journey, " having," he says, " in 
August, 1692, satisfied my longing desire in visiting 
Pensilvania." True Presbyterianism was stretching 
forth its hand toward the scattered brethren in East 
Jersey and Long Island, where, at Freehold, Shrews- 
bury, Jamaica, Hempstead and Newtown, there are 
seeds of our pure faith, but with the worship and 
discipline still modified by the original mixture of 
Independency from New England. 

Mr. Makemie finds that, though so exacting in 
their conventionalities, Quakers are not everywhere 
the same. He says : 

" I no sooner arrived in that government but I perceived a 
remarkable difference between the gestures and behavior of 
Quakers there and all others I have been acquainted with else- 
where ; males and females using that mascuhne way of bowing 
the body." 

In another place he criticises the Catechism of 
George Fox, which, while omitting such weighty 
matters as the doctrine of the Trinity, the Ten Com- 
mandments and the Lord's Prayer, " fills up a great 
part," he says, "with stuff wherein there is no religion, 
far less can they be called fundamentals ; as salutations 
by words and gestures, covering and uncovering the 
head, condemning preaching in steeple-houses and 
churches." If a religious sect is going to revolu- 
tionize our social manners, he would have it done 
in a more decent way : 



2l6 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1692. 

" Seeing they decry the civil salutations of the kingdom and 
people among whom they live, what warrant can they produce 
for their singular, ugly and bad-natured salutation — their males 
and females taking one another by the hands or waists, continu- 
ing a considerable space, wringing them hard and looking stead- 
fastly in each other's face, without one word speaking ?" 

Thus God permits the paradox of a body of relig- 
ionists claiming to be so spiritual as to abjure the 
divine sacraments and all the externals of worship, 
yet making it a part of their religion to insist upon 
these uncouth social forms, set up by human author- 
ity only, and bound on the conscience. 

Our minister finds Quakerism in its American 
stronghold very unhappy — rent into two fierce factions 
led by the lieutenant-governor, Loyd, and our late ac- 
quaintance George Keith. At the time the latter made 
his descent upon our county and was proclaiming 
Quaker infallibility to the very doors of Mr. Make- 
mie, dissensions were raging in their own ranks and 
loud denunciations were being hurled from each at 
the other. 

Before presenting Mr. Makemie's account of the 
disturbances in Mr. Penn's city of brotherly love, I 
want to transcribe the words of another Quaker 
champion, written this very year, affording a suggest- 
ive commentary upon what is to follow. Their cele- 
brated disputer, Thomas Story, thus delivers himself: 

"I sat quiet and inward a little and the truth arose as a stand- 
ard against it, and the opposing darkness vanished and truth 
reigned in me alone, and then I began to speak concerning the 
many divisions in the pretended Christian world, happening 
upon the pouring forth of the seventh vial by the angel of God 
mentioned in the book of the Revelation of John. That the 
pretended Christian Church with all her various false notions, 
opinions and doctrines, is that Babylon. That her three great 



A. D. 1692.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 2\J 

divisions are the Papacy, the Prelacy and the Presbytery, with 
their several sub-divisions and confusions ; who being departed 
from the Spirit of Christ the Prince of Peace into the spirit of 
envy and persecution, were now and from the time of that vial 
warring and destroying each other." 

First or last God humbles self-righteousness. Mr. 
Makemie returns Keith's visit, is at his house in Phil- 
adelphia, hears his side of the controversy, and is also 
among the other party and hears theirs. He says : 

"This breacji is risen to such a height that the railings, revil- 
ings, bitter and uncharitable accusations they were wont to vomit 
maliciously against all the Reformed Churches, are now justly 
turned against one another ; for Loyd and his party fly out 
against Keith, calling him 'a reviler of the brethren,' 'brat of 
Babylon,' ' accuser of the brethren,* ' one that always endeavoreth 
to keep down the power of the truth,' ' drawing from the gift of 
God,' calling him also ' Pope,' ' Primate of Pennsylvania,' ' Fa- 
ther Confessor ;' accusing him of ' envy, extreme passion, a tur- 
bulent and unsubdued spirit.' It deserves observation that in 
their Epistle to their Brethren and their Commendation, what 
high, lofty and proud titles, scarce applicable to men, they gave 
George Keith ; as, that ' he walked in the counsel of God,' ' was 
lovely in that day,' when ' the beauty of the Lord was upon him 
and his comeliness covered him ;' and immediately with the 
same breath they throw him down and look upon him as ' fallen 
from the high places of Israel,' as a ' man slain in his high 
places,' and so they fix hard names upon him as formerly; 
who pays them home again in the same coin, and calls Loyd 
and his party, which are some thousands, ' fools,' ' ignorant 
heathens,' 'silly souls,' ' Hars,' 'heretics,' 'rotten ranters,' ' Mug- 
gletonians,' etc." 

Mr, Makemie's native humor crops out in his 
comment : 

" If we were inclinable to give them names, we have no room, 
for they have done it to our hands themselves. And I must 
confess they are better able than we ; for they are better ac- 
quainted with one another and privy to their errors, heresies 
and other hidden works of darkness, which they have hitherto 



2l8 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE, [A. D. 1692. 

been ashamed to publish to the world. And yet it is admirable 
to think where these men jfind such a stock of confidence as to 
wipe their mouths and say they have not railed all this while, but 
all they have said on both sides is in the uprightness of their 
hearts and all these names given are truth. I shall leave them 
so, disproving neither." 

Again our minister tells us : 

" Thomas Loyd in a public meeting affirmed no man could 
differ with George Keith but he was in danger of the life of his 
soul by him ; and farther that he had been a more vexatious 
adversary to Friends than Hicks or Scanderet or the greatest 
enemies. George Keith affirmed that ' no such damnable here- 
sies and doctrines of devils were tolerated in any Protestant 
Society as among Quakers at Philadelphia.' " 

These are very diverse sentiments to be entertained 
by people equally under the guidance of the Inner 
Light. Keith has already published two books in 
the controversy — The Plea of the hmocefit and The 
Reasons and Causes of the Separation. 

Mr. Makemie read and listened, and with his usual 
thoroughness has gone to the bottom of these differ- 
ences. He says : 

" I shall give a relation from their own writings, and also from 
their own testimonies, and the open and public discourses of both 
parties I conversed with at Philadelphia." 

My father thinks that this episode in the early 
religious history of our neighboring colony is of 
sufficient importance to go upon my journal — espe- 
cially because it is a description by an eye-witness 
who is exploring the way for the establishment of 
our Church in that city as an antidote to all these 
errors. Mr. Makemie tells us : 

" The occasion of all this clamor and heat is given by Keith 
to be an accusation of Keith by W. Stockdale, an ancient ()uaker 
teacher, for preaching two Christs, because he preached faith in 



A. D. 1692.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 219 

Christ within them and faith in Christ without. Keith having 
dealt privately with the said Stockdale but unsuccessfully, laid 
his complaint before twelve of their ministry in a meeting at Mr. 
Ewer's house, who rather defended and excused Stockdale than 
condemned him. Whereby ten of these able Doctors, two only 
dissenting, became as guilty of ignorance and errors as Stock- 
dale himself. And next the Yearly Meeting at Philadelphia, and 
so at length six several meetings, had this matter in debate under 
their determination ; who gave so slender a determination at last 
that they all appeared rather at a stand and demur about it, and 
Keith jusdy accuses them of partiality, ignorance and unbehef." 

Says our authority caustically : 

"All may perceive from the Unchristian labyrinth in which 
these men have involved themselves about so weighty and so 
plain a fundamental, how great strangers they are to the true 
knowledge of the Gospel mystery of Christ Jesus ; that of six 
several meetings of their greatest Dons, they are in confusion 
about the Christ to be believed in for salvation, and understand 
not Christ as he is revealed in the Scriptures, God-man suffering 
and dying for us. Whence it is evident what Christ the gener- 
ality of Quakers have been believing in ; which is clear from the 
prayer of Thomas Fitz-Walter at a meeting, saying, ' O God that 
died in us and laid down thy life in us and took it again,' etc., 
which George Keith justly called blasphemy. Arthur Cook 
accused George Keith for saying that Christ's body, that was 
crucified and buried, is gone into Heaven and was and is in 
Heaven, even the very same body ; which Cook and others 
called a novelty imposed upon his ancient brethren. John 
Simcock asked Keith, Did Christ's bones arise ? Thomas 
Loyd did object against Keith's imposing unscriptural faith on 
his brethren ; further, that faith in Christ without us, as he died 
for our sins and rose again, was not necessary to salvation ; and 
further, that Christ within did all. I leave it to others to deter- 
mine what sort of Christians Quakers must be ; and also what 
we must judge of their sufficient and saving and divine light, of 
which they have been boasting universally and magnifying them- 
selves above all others in the world." 

Nor was this all. The need for an orthodox Chris- 
tain ministry in that town is great indeed. Mr. Make- 
mie proceeds : 



220 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1692. 

"Many other most dangerous positions were urged and dis- 
puted among them. Many of them denied the day of judg- 
ment and any resurrection but what they have already attained. 
John Willsford said, Christ was a Mediator for no drunkards and 
wicked persons but for his own disciples. Many of them denied 
God's presence in all his creatures, arguing most ignorantly and 
blasphemously, If God be in herbs and grasses, then who tram- 
ples on them tramples on God. This occasioned a new dispute, 
whether God be present in lice, some denying they were any part 
of his creation. Another preaches that Christ cureth men's souls 
perfectly at once and makes them free of all sin ; and when we 
are perfect, we are kings and are not to beg or pray to God for 
ourselves. Another said he did not believe to be saved by that 
which died at Jerusalem." 

Condemning both, Mr. Makemie evidently considers 
his old Accomack opponent nearer right than the 
other faction. But the influence of those in author- 
ity and that of the illiterate ministry carry the major- 
ity with them, and our informant tells us that on the 
22d of last December their monthly meeting passed 
judgment against Keith. Commissioners sent all the 
way from England failed to harmonize the discord. 

I cannot follow the labyrinth of controversy all the 
way through. Libels, prosecutions and imprisonments 
follow. Says our minister : 

" This makes a great noise both in city and country, that 
Quakers begin to imprison and persecute one another, proving 
what they would do to others if they had power, opportunity and 
provocation. They make use of the same plea as all other perse- 
cutors do, even the disturbance of the peace and subversion of 
the government. But this salve will not cure the sore." 

Mr. Makemie thus completes the history of these 
anomalous distractions : 

"Great things were expected from the Yearly Meeting at Bur- 
lington, which was to be within a few days. Though little ex- 
pectation of a friendly accommodation, for George Keith kept out 



A. D. 1692.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 221 

of town lest he should by a prison be prevented to attend that 
meeting. But Keith came off there with flying colors. For the 
other party, being summoned again and again to appear, de- 
clined it. Whether they disowned the authority of that meeting, 
or suspected the badness of their cause which they had reason 
to do, or feared George Keith's party to be too strong, they can 
best answer for themselves ; but that meeting justified George 
Keith and condemned Loyd and his party, discharging them 
to preach or pray in public meeting till they had condemned 
their former judgment by a public writing. How this order was 
slighted is too palpable to be denied. 

" But while the Meeting at Burlington clears Keith, the Yearly 
Meeting at Maryland condemns him and justifies the other party. 
Whereby that mfallible discerning spirit Quakers boast of and 
say is in every true Quaker, is overthrown ; for great Meetings 
of their greatest Dons can be mistaken and make contrary and 
contradictory orders. I am informed the division has reached 
London. One party who were against Keith bought up all his 
pamphlets to prevent the spreading of the difference ; another 
party orders a new impression of all his books relating to that 
controversy. This I had lately from one of themselves." 

Our minister arouses himself with several of the 

ludicrous aspects of this unfriendliness of the Friends. 

He says : 

" George Keith is blamed for calling Stockdale and a whole 
meeting ignorant heathens. But, says Keith, if there is light 
sufficient to salvation in all men without the man Christ, then 
an honest heathen is a true Christian. Hence every man may 
learn that honest heathens are good Quakers, or Quakers are 
good heathens." 

We can imagine the smile upon Mr. Makemie's face 
when he dryly remarks : 

" Whoever would have more of this nature, even the spiritual 
war among Quakers, chiefly promoted by the carnal weapon of 
the tongue, I recommend them to Philadelphia." 

While Mr. Makemie is exploring the regions to the 
north, we hear of an addition to our ministerial force 
on the Chesapeake. Mr. Makemie's former flock on 



222 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1692. 

Elizabeth River has another bachelor preacher from 
the North of Ireland. Mr. Josias Mackie comes from 
the little town on the Foyle where the Presbytery of 
Laggan formerly held its most frequent meetings, and 
where Mr. Makemie was received under its care, when 
he says, "I gave requiring satisfaction to godly, learned 
and judicious discerning men of a work of grace and 
conversion wrought on my heart." The son of Pat- 
rick Mackie of St. Johnstown has breathed from boy- 
hood the bracing atmosphere of the Covenant and 
associated with the heroes who were immortalized 
in the defence of Derry. Three years ago James sat 
down in the little town to await the surrender of the 
Protestant garrison, but waited in vain. His avowed 
purpose to Romanize America has failed, and from his 
very camp comes over another laborer to advance the 
Protestant cause. On the 22d of June, Mr. Mackie 
takes the oath before Justices Thomas Butt and James 
Wilson and formally qualifies to preach at three points 
— a house at Mr. Thomas Ivy's in Eastern Branch, a 
house belonging to Mr. Richard Philpot in Tanner's 
Creek Precincts, and at a house belonging to Mr. John 
Roberts in the Western Branch. In the neighborhood 
of the preaching-place on the Eastern Branch are the 
house and lot owned by Mr. Makemie. 

This is probably the first case of the recognition in 
Virginia of the Act of Toleration passed in the first 
year of William and Mary. By taking the oath of 
allegiance and subscribing the declaration against 
Popery, also the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church 
of England, except those having reference to the 
government and power of that Church, Dissenters 
are relieved from attendance upon the parish church 



A. D. 1692.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 223 

and permitted to worship in their own, provided they 
have their places of worship legally recorded and keep 
them unlocked, unbarred and unbolted. This is a 
scant measure of justice,* a standing reflection upon 
the loyalty and doctrinal soundness of Nonconformists ; 
but even this poor boon has been won through the 
persistent influence of William against the factious 
opposition of the High Churchmen of England. It 
is a singular fact that our Calvinistic ministry can 
conscientiously subscribe to all the doctrinal Articles 
of the Church of England, which hundreds of their 
own Arminian clergy cannot do without perjury. 

Thursday, October 27, under proclamation of our 
court, was observed as a day of thanksgiving to God 
for prospering the armies of King William. It had 
more especial reference to the great naval victory of 
La Hogue over the French fleet on the 19th of May, 
when the threatened invasion of England was utterly 
defeated. Somerset was not behind the British Isles 
in the spirit of loyalty and enthusiasm, in the firing of 
guns and the waving of flags and the flow of rich 
autumn cider. 

But some of us are even more thankful for the 
divine favor in the gift of five genuine Presbyterian 
preachers for the regions around the tributaries of the 
Chesapeake— Josias Mackie, Nathaniel Taylor, Sam- 
uel Davis, Thomas Wilson and Francis Makemie, 
who is the foremost of them all. No other region 
in America can show such a galaxy in this year of 
grace 1692. Nor do we forget, amid our gratitude, the 

minister of Lifford, Brother's Love and Borthwick Mr. 

William Trail — and his five years' work at Rehoboth. 

*Hallam's Constitutional History, p. 1^86. 



CHAPTER XIV. 
A. D. 1693. 

" The Church of Israel in Egypt and in all their other Captivities 
were Dissenters. The three worthies in Daniel were Dissenters in 
Babylon ; and Daniel under Darius was a Dissenter. Our Saviour, all 
his Disciples and Apostles, with their Christian followers, were Dis- 
senters, until Constantine's Reign. It were hard and uncharitable to 
condemn all these as Traytors and Schismatics !" — Makemie. 

I MUST mention a noted Pocomoke wedding — 
the forerunner of others no less interesting, per- 
haps. For some while it had been noticed that one 
of our justices was riding often toward the old Stevens 
plantation — the original Rehoboth. The sensation has 
culminated in the marriage of Squire Layfield to Mrs. 
Elizabeth, the widow of Colonel William Stevens. 
Such a wedding causes considerable stir in colony- 
life. 

This year the names of George Layfield and Eliza- 
beth " his now wife, relict and executrix of Colonel 
William Stevens deceased," have been jointly signed 
upon a deed conveying the plantation of Carmel, in 
the north end of Sinepuxent, to John Johnson, "for 
fifteen thousand pounds of good fat merchantable 
pork." Widows with plantations do not remain 
widows long in the provinces. 

The " cyder " used at the wedding can be bought 
this season at eight pounds of tobacco per gallon. I 
think of other weddings to be, and do not wonder that 

224 



A. D. 1693.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 22$ 

the name ** Mary-Land " should run into the suggest- 
ive pronunciation " Merry-Land." This is all very 
well, but let not Mr. Makemie's version of the name 
of our river prevail — " Poccamok "! Martha thinks 
my laugh at his accent shows very little reverence. 

From Mr. Makemie's sloop we have lately made the 
following purchases : 

1 barrel molasses 600 lbs. tobacco. 

2 Banburry stock locks 120 " " 

2 match coals 240 " " 

I peck salt 25 " " 

I hope the profits from this trip will be sufficient 
to pay his tax upon the three tithables assessed against 
him this year for the support of Episcopacy in Vir- 
ginia (49). 

I learn that a deed has been made on the 21st of 
this February by Robert Hutchinson to " Francis Ma- 
kemie, Gent.," of three hundred and fifty acres of land 
"bounded north-westward on part of Matchatank 
Creek, beginning at the head . of said creek, and 
from thence running down the south-west side unto 
the land that was formerly belonging to James Price, 
and now to the said Makemie." Virginia acknowl- 
edges Mr. Makemie to be a gentleman, though not 
disposed to admit that he is a minister of Christ. He 
now owns all the south bank of the sunny Matchatank, 
while his father-in-law owns the thousand acres stretch- 
ing between its northern shore and the Onancock. 

I am reminded of a present just made by the wealthy 
Mr. Anderson to one of his neighbors. When spon- 
sors are selected for the children of Episcopalians, it is 
the custom to recognize the honor by some valuable 

15 



226 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1693. 

gift. The following paper, formally signed, has been 
put upon record in Accomack this year by William 
Anderson, Gent. : 

" For an affection which I have and bear unto my God- 
daughter Anne, daughter of Thomas Welburne, Gent., I have 
given, granted and dehvered and by these presents do give, 
grant and dehver unto Arcadia Welburne, mother of the said 
Anne Welburne, one black heifer about three years old, together 
with her increase, which said heifer and all her increase are now 
running at Chingoteague." 

I do not suppose that "my God-daughter" is the 
owner of a very large heifer. The first cattle brought 
to this continent were landed at Jamestown in 1608, 
and others in 16 10 and 161 1. To kill any of these or 
their increase was felony and death. Thus protected, 
they had grown in 1639 to about thirty thousand in 
Virginia. Small and poor from the beginning, they 
have been badly fed and tended ever since. So also 
with the cattle brought over by the Swedes on the 
Delaware. From these two sources have sprung the 
" native cattle " along our coast. Not the best from 
the old country originally, and almost utterly neglected 
since, they are lean, ugly brutes, hunting their living in 
the woods and on the marshes, or, like Annie Wel- 
burne's heifer, running wild on the beaches. 

Must I own that the children of the people have 
known almost as little culture ? 

As a matter of moment in the history of the times, 
we must notice the charter for a college in Virginia 
signed by their Majesties on the 8th of February. For 
some while Mr. Commissary Blair had been pressing 
this enterprise, until finally the Assembly seconded 
his efforts and sent him to Europe to solicit the requi- 



A. D. 1693.] THE DAYS OF MAKE MIE. 22J 

site authority and aid. His energy and perseverance 
have won deserved success. 

Mr. Blair is a Scotchman by birth, a graduate of the 
University of Edinburgh. Presbyterially ordained, he 
was admitted into episcopal orders by the Bishop of 
Edinburgh without further ordination. In 1685, while 
Mr. Makemie was preaching at Elizabeth River, Mr. 
Blair came as a missionary to Henrico county, and in 
1689 was appointed commissary by the Bishop of 
London. On landing in Virginia, his Scotch soul 
was grieved to find no schools nor school-teachers, 
the youth growing up in ignorance, and, worse still, a 
sentiment prevailing against education on the ground 
that " it would take our planters off from their mechan- 
ical employments and make them grow too knowing to 
be obedient and submissive." Said Governor Berkley 
in 1670 : 

" I thank God there are no free schools, nor printing, and I 
hope we shall not have these hundred years ; for learning has 
brought disobedience into the world and printing has divulged 
them and libels against the best governments. God save us 
from both." 

The following extract from the statutes of the young 
college gives a fair picture of the present state of learn- 
ing in both Virginia and Maryland : 

" Some few, and very few indeed, of the richer sort sent their 
children to England to be educated, and there, after many dan- 
gers from the seas and enemies and unusual distempers occasioned 
by the change of country and climate, they were often taken off 
by small-pox and other diseases. It was no wonder if this oc- 
casioned a great defect of understanding and all sorts of litera- 
ture, and that it was followed with a new generation of men far 
short of their forefathers ; which, if they had the good fortune, 
though at a very indifferent rate, to read and write, had no fur- 



228 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A, D. 1693. 

ther commerce with the muses or learned sciences, but spent 
their life ignobly with the hoe and spade and other employments 
of an uncultivated and unpolished country." 

Mr. Makemie deprecates this state of things no less 
earnestly than does Mr. Blair, especially in its religious 
aspects. In his preface to his Catechism he had spoken 
of his sympathy for multitudes in the province who 
were without proper instruction and in darkness. 
Keith thus taunts him with it : 

" Whereas he mentions his compassion over the tender souls 
in an American desert ready to perish for want of a vision, in 
his epistle to the reader ; his Catechism can nothing help them 
in that respect, for not one word in all his Catechism directeth 
people where to find the true vision of God in any measure, but 
on the contrary, according to his and his brethren's false faith, 
all true vision and revelation and all divine inspiration is ceased 
since the Apostle's days, both among teachers and people, and 
God committed his counsel wholly to writing. All the people in 
Virginia both English and Scots whom he seemeth to reflect 
upon for their ignorance, have the Holy Scriptures without, and 
the holy teachings and illuminations of God and Christ within, to 
teach them what is needful to their salvation, if they will hearken 
thereunto, far better than the Catechism of Francis Makemie." 

This sophistical appeal of a university graduate to 
the prejudices of the uncultured meets a deserved re- 
buke. Our pastor replies both as to the general illit- 
eracy and with a deserved thrust back at the Quakers : 

" Though he constructs my compassion over the tender souls 
in an American desert to be a reflection against the Scots and 
English in Virginia, I am satisfied it has not been so received by 
them for whom it was intended, neither judged so by the Spirit of 
God who, much after the same manner, pities and compassionates 
the ignorance of his own people by the prophet Hosea — ' My 
people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.' I am persuaded 
that Quakers should not have had so great success in drawing 
aside silly souls from the truths and ways of God if it were not 
for the abounding ignorance of Virginia and other dark corners 



A. D. 1693.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 229 

of the world. And none deserves more to be pitied for their 
ignorance than Quakers, and of the most fundamental truths, 
notwithstanding of their high pretences to the Spirit and Light 
within. As John Drummond, a reputed and received Quaker, a 
reader of Keith's books, who lately at my house at Poccamok, 
before Keith and several other witnesses, published his gross 
ignorance of that fundamental article — That none could be saved 
without faith in Jesus Christ. From which I understand since 
that he had oft reproached me, drawing his own ignorant con- 
clusions from thence. If Quakers are ignorant thereof, what can 
they pretend to know?" 

Among the families all around us we have examples 
of the deplorable want of education. This very year 
a legal document has been recorded in Accomack 
court under the signatures of Mr. "William Anderson 
and his rich wife, the latter, notwithstanding all her 
silks and laces, being compelled to sign Jier mark. 
This is the case also with the sons of Colonel Stevens 
and with their mother.* It is noticeable that promi- 
nent families in county or State soon lose their political 
prestige — station and influence passing from their illit- 
erate offspring into the hands of educated men newly 
arriving from Europe. 

The college has been named, for their Majesties, 
** William and Mary." The plan for the building has 
been supplied by our great contemporary architect Sir 
Christopher Wren. It is the second American college, 
Harvard having been founded as a " schoole or col- 
ledge " in 1636. The support is partly provided for 
by a duty of a penny per pound on all tobacco ex- 
ported to the other colonies from both Virginia and 

*The testimony of Accomack and Somerset records, and in many 
other instances. For other facts, in reference to college, etc., see 
Campbell's Virginia, Neill's Colonial Clergy, Anderson's Colonial 
Church and Makemie's Ansxver to Keith. 



230 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1693. 

Maryland. For once the nauseous staple is applied to 
a good use. 

The energetic Scotch commissary is the first presi- 
dent of the youthful institution. Of course it is wholly 
under the control and auspices of the Episcopalians : 

" That the church of Virginia may be furnished with a semi- 
nary of the ministers of the Gospel, and that the youth may be 
piously educated in good letters and manners, and that the 
Christian faith may be propagated among the western Indians, 
to the glory of Almighty God." 

Governor Copley is proving himself considerate and 
kind to all sects, practicing carefully the moderation 
which he recommended to his first Assembly. The 
opposition to the tax for building Episcopal churches 
and supporting their clergymen has been so firm as to 
make the law almost a dead letter. The Quakers es- 
pecially, forming the majority of the Dissenters, are 
determined and unyielding. A large part of the 
preaching of Fox and his followers has been in de- 
nunciation of steeple-houses and salaried clergymen, 
and this " forty-per-poU law," as it is called, falls upon 
them more heavily than upon any others. 

The conciliatory spirit of the governor is seen in his 
appointment to office of one of our Somerset citizens 
not of the Established Church, and to the very office 
responsible for the collection of this tax. On the 9th 
of August, Mr. Ephraim Wilson, a Presbyterian, and 
of the Ulster Wilsons, had his commission as sheriff) 
over the signature of the governor, recorded in court. 
Such acts seem to be a guarantee of peace. 

The Assembly, recognizing the obstacles to the 
enforcement of the unpopular law, has partly yielded, 
ordering that the tax in counties which did not levy 



A. D. 1693.] ^^^ DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 23 1 

last year shall not be levied this year, but that it shall 
be doubled to eighty pounds in 1694. It is felt that it 
will not do to press an indignant people too far. 

Among our Episcopal neighbors we find, as might 
be expected, two classes of men — some who are op- 
posed to all concessions, hungry after the tithes and 
impatient for the enforcement of the obnoxious edict ; 
but there are others who are excellent Christians, re- 
gretting the turmoil this law has occasioned and anx- 
ious that justice may be done to all. This difference 
of spirit is a reflection of that now exhibited by the 
High-Church and Low-Church parties in England. 
I remember Mr. Makemie's words : 

" All who study histories of the Protestant Reformation may- 
be assured that the Reformed Church of England consisted all 
along of two sorts of men. First, many sober, moderate, sound 
and tender men, who never were for persecution of Protestants 
and would willingly have parted with many unscriptural cere- 
monies for the churches' peace and gaining Dissenters. And 
the seed and root of these have been from the original of the 
Reformation and abounded in the reigns of Queen Elizabeth 
and King James I., and were Anti-Arminian and faithful to 
the first doctrine and Protestant Articles of the church of 
England and continued the prevailing party until the reign of 
Charles I. 

" There was also another hot and violent party who were ready 
to brand the sober and serious of their own church as Puritans, 
Precisians and Fanatics, betrayed their own Articles, embraced 
Arminianism, and grew more zealous for rights and ceremonies 
than for the essentials and substantial of religion ; crying up 
uniformity and conformity more than true Christianity ; acting 
supra-canon and, instead of coming farther from Rome by a 
further Reformation, which our first Reformers designed and the 
moderate party desired, they both in doctrine, practice and cere- 
monies made several advances toward Rome ; as Dr. Du Mou- 
lin, sometimes history-professor of Oxford, relates in his Short 
History thereof; which advances gave Popes and Papists no 
small hopes of England's return to Rome. 



232 THE DA YS OF MAKE MI E. [A. D. 1693. 

"This party was rampant in Laud's time, who had a party of 
monstrous tools who published Arminian and downright Popish 
doctrines, and tyrannical and enslaving maxims of state ; and 
were so countenanced and protected by the King and some of 
the Court that they carried all before them, and it was no small 
crime for any to speak against the Romish innovations and in- 
tolerable usurpations both in Church and State, as in the cruel, 
unchristian and illegal punishments inflicted on some of their 
own communion, until their designs were seasonably opposed 
and checked by such of their church who were sincere and un- 
corrupted, when backed by Lords and Commons assembled in 
Parliament in the year 1640 complaining in bold speeches of 
those that went after the Popish way. 

" Though Laud had justly meted to him what he measured 
out to others, and though many suffered almost twenty years ab- 
dication from the pulpit during the Civil Wars ; yet it is to be 
feared the seed and spawn of this faction has been growing since 
in the church and so prevailing a party as were able to obstruct 
that union, accommodation and comprehension designed be- 
tween the Church of England and Dissenters, first by a com- 
mission from our most gracious King and Queen, and next by a 
convocation who had but very small regard to their Majesties' 
supremacy in Ecclesiastics, and who so vigorously opposed what 
they had so lately addressed their Majesties for." 

Mr. Makemie here speaks of King William's stren- 
uous efforts four years ago to secure entire toleration 
for all Protestants, their admission to civil office, and 
such alterations in the Liturgy and Canons as would 
satisfy the consciences of Nonconformists and open 
the way for union with them. The High-Church 
party hated William the more for these efforts. My 
father notes the fact that whenever our monarchs have 
been inclined to harass and persecute Dissenters, these 
adherents of Prelacy have been always zealous in 
preaching the divine right of kings and the absolute 
supremacy of these heads of the Church ; but when- 
ever our rulers have inclined to leniency and toleration, 
these extreme Prelatists are first to discard the doc- 



A. D. I693-] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 233 

trine of the divine right of kings and oppose all su- 
premacy which favors the Nonconformists. While 
now in Britain they are setting themselves violently 
against the conciliatory policy of the king, here in 
Maryland, where William encourages the establish- 
ment of their Church, they are demonstratively 
loyal. 

Our county is highly favored in having one among 
us who understands so thoroughly the weaknesses of 
both Quakerism and Episcopacy, and who is compe- 
tent to guard our people from the loose no-Churchism 
of the one, and the pretentious, exclusive High- 
Churchism of the other. It is a privilege to sit with 
him and Naomi under the shade-trees of our flowing 
river and hear him vindicate the claims of our Church 
to be the soundest part of the Reformation. A branch 
of the transplanted vine hangs over us with fragrant 
clusters. He says : 

" In Scotland they were the first Reformers of that kingdom 
from Popery, though originally by mean and inconsiderable men 
and in opposition to a strong Court party, and not only without 
but against the authority of the state ; which demonstrated the 
more of the hand of Divine Providence therein. And notwith- 
standing all their strugglings with Poper}'- and Prelacy, which in 
the late reigns have been imposed upon them, contrary to laws, 
oaths and repeated establishments of that kingdom, yet they 
went a greater length in reformation than their neighbors in 
England, who upon prudential considerations retained some 
ceremonies lest it should- be dangerous to reform all at once as 
Scotland did. 

"As to the Presbyterians of England, they were from the be- 
ginning a part of the English reformation ; for the best histories 
inform us that those who chiefly had the first management of the 
reformation were divided into two classes, much-what equal in 
number and quality of interest. Some of them, as Bishop 
Hooper, Coverdale, John Fox, John Rogers and Peter Martyr, 
appeared vigorously for an absolute and thorough reformation 



234 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1693. 

according to the model Calvin had given of it, and so it would 
have been a Presbyterian reformation. But others, as Cranmer, 
Ridley, Cox and others, were peremptorily of the judgment that 
a reformation in all parts at first would be of dangerous conse- 
quence, and at once to reform all would be to reform none at all. 
And though the judgment of the latter prevailed, yet all approved 
of the former as best ; though some approved not the juncture as 
seasonable until the people who were all Papists were better in- 
structed and disposed to receive the impressions of this entire and 
perfect reformation. 

" Therefore they were left not without hopes of a further ref- 
ormation from their posterity and successors, which we were 
assured of by a sentence in the Preface to old Common Prayer 
Books, left out of the new. It was for that time agreed on that, 
for the better gaining of Papists, some ceremonies and a great 
part of the Roman service were to be kept. Thus both parties 
concurred and united, in hopes of a further reformation, until the 
bloody Marian persecution, under which some of both classes fell 
and died, others became refugees abroad. Upon their return, 
instead of a further reformation, uniformity acts were promoted 
and passed in the first of Ehzabeth. Yet, during the lives of 
some good Bishops and for several years, no subscription nor 
use of all the Common Prayer nor an exact observance of the 
ceremonies was urged, until Whitgift ascended the chair, whose 
zeal for ceremonies was boldly impugned by learned Cartwright. 

"And now subscription and conformity was required under 
penalty of suspension and deprivation. Harder things were soon 
contrived and imposed, to the casting out of many able and godly 
ministers, followed by multitudes of people. And these, being 
cast out and kept out to this day, are Nonconformists and Dis- 
senters and the most considerable part Presbyterians. Those of 
Ireland are partly from England, partly from Scotland, who since 
the conquest joined with others in settling that kingdom. 

"As to the Protestant foreign countries, they are either Calvin- 
ists or Lutherans. But all the Calvinist churches, as lately of 
France, Geneva, Holland, Piedmont, and many other places of 
High and Low Germany, are Presbyterians. By all computation 
Presbyterians and Calvinists, with such as are in full communion 
with them, are the greater ^?iXi and, from the judgment of our 
first Reformers, are the better part of the Reformation." * 

The Presbyterians of Maryland make no factious 

* Truths in a True Light. 



A. D. 1693.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 235 

Opposition to the Establishment* We shall feel it 
heavily, but it is a matter of course in this age that 
those in the majority will have State and Church 
united. Others are taxed for the support of our 
Church in Scotland, Mr. Trail now living upon the 
tithes at Borthwick. In Ireland they have the regmm 
do?ium. Our county has been exempted from the pay- 
ment of the " forty pounds per poll " for last year and 
this, but finally it will come.f Mr. Makemie pays 
his assessments uncomplainingly for the support of 
Mr. Teackle, only asking that to himself may be con- 
ceded the privilege of preaching without compulsory 
support. He says proudly : 

"Whatever others have done, I dare affirm I never bargained 
with any people about a maintenance ; and have oft refused 
money when freely offered ; and never enjoyed any maintenance 
but what was most freely offered. I deny not to the magistrate 
a power of determining maintenances when necessity requires it ; 



As Mr. Makemie moves in the midst of many dif- 
ficulties, sensible and well poised, I think of Matcha- 
coopah's description: "God's matt-ah-ki-weeii'' ("war- 
rior"), "whom no blast of the north-easter can drive 
from the rock." 

Shall the contact of these sons of the forest with 
such men ever lead to civilization ? They have more 
settled towns in our county than the whites, and con- 
tinue to be fully protected by our courts. The other 
day, from one of their villages, called " Tondetank," 
up in the Wicomico country, several of their " great- 

* Bishop Hawks's Maryland, p. 78. 

f Order of Assembly postponing on Somerset records. 

J Ansiver to Keith, 



236 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1693. 

men Indians" appeared before our bench of judges and 
charged Thomas Camphn with being accessory to the 
death of Dr. James. So come these savages of the 
wilds into the halls of justice on behalf of law and 
order. 

Thus our obscure county touches on the one side 
the problems of the Indian's destiny, and on another 
the great problems now pending in civilized Europe. 
On the 8th of June one of the little trading-vessels 
from our waters, the brigantine Stephen and Mary 
White, owned by Stephen Horsey and commanded 
by William Round, was attacked and captured by 
the French near the island of Ache.* This is one 
of the little ripples from the great war raging in 
Europe between William, the champion of Protest- 
antism, and Louis XIV., the arch-persecutor. This 
year, for the support of the war, begins in England a 
public debt of which, says my father, no one can fore- 
see the end. 

Our first royal governor has not remained with us 
long. His course pacific and fair to all, he had made 
many friends, refusing to force the Church Establish- 
ment suddenly and harshly upon an unwilling people. 
There was sincere mourning when we heard that Sir 
Lionel Copley was no more. The lieutenant-gov- 
ernor being absent in Europe, Sir Edmund Andros of 
Virginia must be the acting governor until Nicholson 
arrive. The reputation of neither is very attractive. 

* So sworn in court next year : Somerset records. 



CHAPTER XV. 
A. D. 1694. 

" Neither did ever any of them produce one instance of this absolute 
perfection."— Makemie. 

MY friend William has been consulting me about 
furnishing his " little wigwam among the pines," 
as he calls it. It was so absurd, his asking mCy that I 
took down Captain John Smith's History and read his 
list of " such necessaries as either private families or 
single persons shall have cause to provide to go to 
Virginia." The list begins with a man's apparel, then 
victual for a year, arms, tools, and ** household imple- 
ments for a family of six persons," the latter as 
follows : 

sh. d. 

I iron pot 7 o 

I kettle 6 o 

I large frying pan 2 6 

1 gridiron I 6 

2 skillets ....•• 5 o 

I spit 2 o 

Platters, dishes & spoons, of wood 4 o 

William had often smiled during my reading of the 
long list. Then he said saucily, 

** But all that is for a family of six, and I am think- 
ing of only two. Nor did your chivalrous knight say 
anything of the gown and petticoat and veil." 

Whatever it may be in the Maryland air that brings 

237 



238 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1694. 

the sudden color to maidens' faces, I am determined 
to keep my secret. He said something about a favor 
he had to ask of Mr. Makemie, and of the sweetly- 
blooming honeysuckles which Matchacoopah planted; 
but I hasten to colony and county matters. 

The Assembly has just passed a wholesome law pro- 
hibiting the carrying of the murderous " fire-waters " 
to Indian towns and cabins. Another law has been 
enacted, not so wise and paternal, made specially for 
the Indians in our own part of the province, forbidding 
the striking offish in Dorchester and Somerset counties. 
This is the red man's favorite method of securing a 
large part of his food, and it is very selfish to exclude 
the original owners from Maryland's abundant sup- 
plies of the finny tribe. They have friends to resent 
the wrong, and justice will yet be done them. Peter, 
Mr. Makemie's Indian tenant, strikes all he pleases on 
his side of the divisional line, and pities the Poco- 
mokes. 

We are to have a new temple of justice. In March 
it is ordered by the court that a tract of land not ex- 
ceeding two hundred acres be purchased near Dividing 
Creek, and a house there be built on the following plan : 
It is to be fifty feet long by twenty feet wide, overjet- 
ted, the gable-ends of brick, with a chimney above and 
below, and with brick underpinning.* Colonel Francis 
Jenkins and Captain William Whittington are appointed 
commissioners to buy the land and superintend the 
construction. On the road running north from Reho- 
both and Pocomoke Ferry, passing over the horse- 
bridges of Dividing Creek and Nasiongo, and thence 

* Somerset records. Veiy old frame houses with ends of brick are 
still seen in the county. 



A. D. 1694.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 239 

up to " the great bridge " at Snow Hill, there is a Httle 
elevation of land, affording an eligible site for the 
building. There the imposing structure is to stand. 
It is a point accessible from all parts of the large 
county (50). 

Notwithstanding the excitement about the Church 
Establishment and the determined opposition of the 
Quakers, they are still employed in public trusts on 
our side of the bay. At this same March court, 
John Goddin and George Truitt, the latter one of their 
most prominent men near Snow Hill, at whose house 
all their traveling preachers are entertained, made 
favorable report as commissioners upon the repairing 
of "the great bridge at Snow Hill." Henry Hudson 
says they are credited with sufficiency of light within to 
inspect one of the most important works in the county. 

We notice that on the ist of November a petition 
was presented to their court by the Quakers of Acco- 
mack that the house of Thomas Fookes at Onancock 
be recorded as their place of worship, accompanied 
with the statement that their meeting-house at Muddy 
Creek has lately been burnt. This is the first applica- 
tion on the Eastern Shore for the benefits of the Toler- 
ation Act. I have not learned whether the petition has 
been granted or not. The burnt meeting-house was not 
far from the plantation of Mr. Anderson. Mr. Ander- 
son and Mr. Fookes are closely related (51), and both 
own property at the county town. To this point 
their traveling preachers all direct their course. 

While speaking of the courts, I may mention an 
application made to our justices on the 14th of August 
by Mr. Anderson for an order for the payment of two 
notes due Mr. Makemie through his commercial trans- 



240 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1694. 

actions along our river. In the absence of our minister, 
pushing his tent-making and missionary journeys from 
Maryland to Barbadoes, or possibly at this time super- 
intending the publication of his book in Boston, his 
father-in-law appears with power of attorney for col- 
lection of the debt. Both notes are under date of 
March 4, 1693, one signed by James Maynard, wit- 
nessed by Henry Scholfield and John Dryden (spelled 
" Dreden "), for twelve hundred pounds of tobacco, to 
be delivered "at some convenient landing appointed 
by act of Assembly on Pocomoke River." The other, 
signed by the same, is for thirty bushels of corn, which 
is to be delivered " at the mill at Rehoboth." * Judg- 
ment is confessed and payment ordered. The primitive 
mill, with its importance to us colonists, its pretty pond 
white with lilies, does not know that it will be indebted 
to Mr, Makemie's speculations in corn for its second men- 
tion in history. Colonel Stevens's will being the first. 

In July we hear of the arrival of the new governor, 
Sir Francis Nicholson. He has already served as 
governor in New York and Virginia, and is said to be 
the champion of arbitrary power both in Church and 
in State. Nevertheless, he is affable and courteous to 
the people, ambitious of popularity and flattery — at 
once a courtier and a demagogue. He comes to our 
colony parading his zeal for Prelacy, and yet his morals 
are known to be very loose. In Virginia he caught the 
popular breeze by instituting games and offering prizes 
for shooting, running, riding and wrestling; here he 
spreads his sails on the watchword of Church Es- 
tablishment. 

'*' Somerset records. The mill is still in operation — a legacy of the 
fathers of two centuries ago. 



A. D. 1694.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 24 1 

Soon six clergymen follow him from abroad, more 
than doubling the number in the province. Sneers 
the Quaker Dickinson of England, 

" They had heard that the government had laid a 
tax of forty pounds of tobacco on each inhabitant for 
the advancement of the priests' wages." 

The outlook is not very cheering. True, prompted 
by the pious governor, the Assembly passes another 
law in place of the former abortive enactment, but the 
wily Papists and the stubborn Quakers have compacted 
their opposition, and the effort is again palsied. A re- 
port is circulated that the province is about to be re- 
stored to Lord Baltimore. In face of the rejoicings 
inspired by this rumor, the Episcopal clergy and their 
followers are disheartened.* It is interesting to watch 
the alliance existing between the Romish party and 
the Quakers. Mr. Makemie says : 

" Rome and all that party sufficiently know, there are none so 
opposite to, nor so faithful and zealous against them as Dissenting 
Protestants were ; no, not Quakers themselves, who would not 
have been so great at the English Court in the late reign if they 
had." 

Mr. Makemie loves to banter them upon their mar- 
velous loyalty to a Popish tyrant; so he taunts the 
Philadelphia authorities about the proclamation against 
George Keith : 

"It is observable that in their proclamation there is not any 
mention of their Majesties' names, but of the late king twice. 
Verbum sat sapienti T 

Even when the obnoxious tax is collected, but little 
money is secured from it. There are many grades of 

* Bishop Hawks, p. 78, etc. P^or character of Nicholson, see the 
same writer; also Campbell's Virginia and McMahon's Maryland. 
16 



242 THE DAYS OF MAKE MI E. [A. D. 1694. 

tobacco, and Dissenters select the forty pounds from 
the worst. And — tell it not in Gath ! — Episcopalians 
have not been slow to learn the trick. Finally, it 
turns out that the law has been so unskillfully drawn 
that it meets the royal dissent. Thus the hungry 
Church, impatiently waiting and alternating between 
hope and disappointment, seems to look rather to 
tobacco than to divine grace for help. 
Says a writer of their own : 

" Now and then an itinerant preacher came over, of very loose 
morals and scandalous behavior, so that, what with such men's 
ill examples, the Roman priests' cunning, and the Quakers' big- 
otry, religion was in a manner turned out of doors." * 

Of course the writer means religion of prelatic type. 
Thinking only of the Western Shore, he knows noth- 
ing of the spiritual worship of almighty God by the 
Presbyterians of Somerset, their people law-abiding 
citizens and their ministers men of character unim- 
peached. Says a letter to the Bishop of London, 
mourning the misfortunes of Prelacy: 

"There was a sort of wandering pretenders to preaching that 
came from New England and other places ; which deluded not 
only the Protestant Dissenters from our Church, but many of 
the Churchmen themselves, by their extemporary prayers and 
preachments." t 

Another difficulty is pressing sorely. The general 
failure in crops, and the deadly disease raging among 
the cattle and hogs of the province, make the infliction 
of a Church establishment only the heavier. The colo- 
nists are having a harder time to live than at any period 
since we came to America. Our ministers share these 
hardships. We know not where it will end. In a 

* British Empire in America, i. 333. f Hawks, p. 77. 



A. D. 1694.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 243 

new country, where the majority of the people are 
poor enough already, and where our isolated condition 
makes the case desperate when home-supplies fail, a 
future of increasing destitution is frightful to con- 
template.* This dark pressure of growing scarcity 
seems not to be considered for a moment by the gov- 
ernor and his ecclesiastical friends. We love at such 
a time as this to see the approaching sails of Mr. Make- 
mie's sloop. 

While pressed upon the one side by Ritualism and 
on the other by extreme Anti-Ritualism, we have been 
reading Mr. Makemie's new book, just issued from 
Boston. Its blows for righteousness and orthodoxy 
are well directed and vigorous. The extravagances 
and inconsistencies of Maryland Quakerism have 
needed a brave exposure and an unvarnished record 
for future days. Says my father, 

" Presbyterianism, slow to strike, has never been 
known to cry for quarter when conflict for the truth 
is forced. Here, on our lower Eastern Shore, this 
first war of doctrines has been invited and provoked 
by an aggressive sect, and the future years must prove 
which is to go down in the struggle" (52). 

Of this book {Answer' to George Keith's Libel) and 
its author, the strong men of New England, Increase 
Mather, James Allen, Samuel Willard, John Baily and 
Cotton Mather, speak thus in no mean praise : 

" When the foundations are stricken at and those articles on 
which our hopes for eternal life are built be undermined, it is 
time to arm in defence of them. The following discourses will 
be found both seasonable and profitable ; in which the venom 
and sophistry of a grand apostate and one of the most unwea- 

*For condition during 1694 and 1695, see McSherry's Maryland, 
p. 103. 



244 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1694. 

ried supporters of that tottering fabric of Enthusiasm, are de- 
tected, and the perverse spirit which God hath sown among 
them, in suffering them to lay open each other's foUies, is dis- 
covered by the reverend and judicious author. We do therefore 
commend him and these labors of his, to the blessing of God ; 
who alone can recover the fallen, settle the wavering, and con- 
firm such as stand, and make the faithful endeavors of this his 
servant become instrumental to these desired ends." 

Mr. Makemie is impatient of all shams. I use the 
new word which came into vogue under the second 
Charles. All forms of self-righteousness are very- 
repulsive to our minister's honest nature. He easily 
detects and mercilessly exposes the boasted attain- 
ments of these perfectionists. He says : 

" I cannot but admire the instability of many who are so easily 
and soon drawn to embrace and espouse that persuasion and way 
of those called Quakers ; and that because of an outward and 
seeming sanctity, made of those things that are not peculiar to 
Quakers only ; of not swearing, drinking and ranting. Thou- 
sands of professors exceed them in a shining holiness and Christian 
universal piety. The most of their religion is composed of neg- 
atives, for many of them are as void of the positive part of re- 
ligion, as worshiping God in the public, private and secret duties 
of religion, as many moral heathens. If we take a view of their 
principles, they are not only repugnant to truth, contrary to God's 
word and the public received doctrine of the churches of Christ 
for many centuries past, but also dangerous and damnable." 

These are the days of vehement diction between 
controversialists, and Mr. Makemie goes on to maul 
the Quaker images with sledge-hammers double- 
handed. In youth he remembers the thunderbolts 
of the mighty Mr. John Milton, who died only the 
year before Mr. Makemie's matriculation at the uni- 
versity. Since then he has grown familiar with the 
works of the puissant Puritan logicians who have 



A. D. 1694.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 245 

never shrunk from calling heresy and sin by their 
right names wherever found. 

In his book he publishes the manuscript left by 
Keith at Squire Layfield's, and then answers, point 
by point, the strictures of the Pennsylvania crusader. 
Keith has prefaced his paper as follows : 

" Kind friend George Layfield, my dear love in the Lord Jesus, 
Christ saluteth thee, with earnest supplication and prayer to God 
for thee, that God who hath begun his good work in thee, may 
perfect it until the day of Christ, and that the precious seed that 
God hath sown in thy heart may grow not only to be the greatest 
of herbs but a great tree, bringing forth fruit to God's everlasting 
praise and to thy soul's everlasting comfort and happiness." 

Our reviewer says : 

" I waive that complimenting and flattering preamble they have 
ever condemned in others, and withal am glad to hear they have 
any charity for any of a different opinion from them." 

He then proceeds to answer every criticism, general 
and specific, against the Catechism, restating and de- 
fending the great Calvinistic doctrines and Presbyte- 
rian landmarks, and dealing vigorous strokes at Quaker 
errors and follies whenever they come in his way. In 
all points of theology, the sacraments or Church gov- 
ernment, he proves himself a polemic of the staunch- 
est Scotch type. 

As to the charge of omitting " many necessary truths 
and doctrines," he says : 

"That there are omissions, willful and designed omissions, 
I shall never deny; for after it was first- composed, I did com- 
pendize and abbreviate it, oftener than once, to suit it to the 
capacities of such for whom it was prepared, even young ones, 
to whom Quakers have had little regard hitherto as to their re- 
ligious instruction in religious fundamentals. It is no strange 
thing to find them quarreling our succinct way of composing 



246 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1694. 

our principles for young ones, because they are opposite to so 
early edification. Which practice is very inconsistent with Script- 
ure precepts and precedents of training a child when young." 

After replying to other general charges, he vindicates 
his Catechism on the doctrines of the Spirit's office- 
work, the creation, the sufficiency of the Scriptures 
as a rule of faith and practice, the insufficiency of the 
light of nature, the Trinity, the offices of Christ, the 
extent of the atonement, the perseverance of the 
saints, the Sabbath, the gospel ministry, baptism and 
the Lord's Supper. On all these subjects the heresies 
of his opponents are mercilessly exposed. ^ This is fol- 
lowed by his illustrative picture of their dissensions 
and mutual accusations in Philadelphia : 

" This is our comfort, we shall not be judged in the last day 
by Quakers, who must, as well as their neighbors, give an ac- 
count of their rash and uncharitable judgings to a Most Righteous 
Judge." 

This published defence secures new and increasing 
influence to the Catechism among the colonists, and 
attracts attention and confidence to the man who has 
demonstrated his ability to vindicate the truth he 
preaches. While his antagonists on both sides are 
absorbed with the question of Establishment or non- 
Establishment, Mr. Makemie goes on steadily, by liv- 
ing voice and effective pen, with his work of planting 
a pure faith on this Western continent. 

While scarcity and want are prevailing around us, 
we hear of failure of crops and frightful ravages of the 
small-pox in England. Our king has suffered great 
reverses in the war, and the nation is clouded with 
despondency. Marlborough has conveyed information 
to James which has lost the country another victory. 



A. D. 1694.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 247 

and the Jacobites are busy everywhere.* Still, His 
Majesty remains firm, trusting in God, and wields the 
allies at his will. 

Fanaticism flourishes. In Buckinghamshire, Eng- 
land, a preacher proclaims that the Saviour has told 
him that " he has now come down, and will appear 
publicly at Pentecost and gather all the saints, Jews 
and Gentiles, and lead them to Jerusalem and begin 
the millennium." Thousands are living in daily ex- 
pectancy. Says John Evelyn : 

" This brings to mind what I lately happened to find in Al- 
stedius, that the thousand years should begin this very year 1694. 
It is in my E7icyclopedia Biblica — my copy of the book printed 
near sixty years ago."t 

My father says it is remarkable how frequently such 
human supplements to prophecy are repeated and dis- 
appointed along the history of the Church. 

Before the stern devotion of Scotch subjects to their 
traditional principles. His Majesty has thought best 
to bend from his Erastianism. A political " oath of 
allegiance and assurance " being made the condition of 
ministers sitting in ecclesiastical courts, they positively 
refused, and collision with the civil authorities was im- 
minent. For the independency of Christ's kingdom 
and crown they had battled too long to betray them 
now into the hands of even a Calvinistic Caesar. The 
king yields, and the heroes of the Covenant hold their 
Assembly under God's sceptre alone. 

In some of the northern counties of Scotland, under 
the encouragement of Jacobite abettors and in violent 
defiance of law, the Prelatists have been driving out 
the Presbyterian incumbents and obtruding themselves 

* Knight, iv. 582-591, f Evelyn's Diary, p. 557. 



248 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1694. 

Upon their parishes.* It is hard for these old tyrants 
to learn that their days of mastery in Scotland are over. 
In Ireland an ecclesiastical commission from the 
Crown has been trying to purge the prelatic Church 
from its scandals. An archbishop has been deposed 
for utter neglect of duty and on other charges. A 
bishop has been deprived of his sees " for selling of 
livings and preferments, and many other crimes com- 
mitted by him in the exercise of his episcopal juris- 
diction." A dean has been deprived " for the crime 
of adultery and incontinence of life." The Prebenda- 
ry of Kilroot was convicted " of intemperance, incon- 
tinence of life and neglect of his cures." The com- 
missioners say : 

"If we would give way to the passions and animosities of the 
clergy here, who are not sparing in their informations against 
their brethren, I beheve we might deprive, or at least suspend, 
one half of them." f 

Such are the men who would drive Presbyterianism 
out of Ulster, and such, perhaps, will be those who are 
lusting for the forty-per-poll law in Maryland. 

The Christmas holidays have brought sadness to 
the palace at Kensington. Small-pox has entered the 
doors of ro5^alty, seizing upon as noble a queen as ever 
graced the English throne. On the 28th of Decem- 
ber, Queen Mary died, leaving the king broken-heart- 
ed and desolate. In that stern, impassive bosom, here 
was the one tender spot. In tears, prostrated, he de- 
clares that during the whole course of their marriage 
he has never known one fault in her. When told her 
danger, " she thanked God she had always carried 

■^ Hetherington. 

f Report of commission, Reid, ii. 439-441. 



A. D. 1694.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 249 

this in mind, that nothing was to be left to the last 
hour." 

In his castigation of those perfectionists who have 
claimed the privilege of assaulting all churches with- 
out receiving the merited exposure, Mr. Makemie 
asks : 

"Why are Quakers so hot and zealous for King James, a 
Popish and abdicated Prince, and never were so for any other 
Protestant king, though King William and Queen Mary have 
been kinder than any other by giving liberty established by 
law ?" 

While the good queen has been dying in England, 
our little capital at St. Mary's has received her death- 
blow. Unless some future city spring up along the 
Chesapeake to preserve the name and the fame of the 
Baltimores, it seems that everything that is specially 
the work of their hands is doomed. The site of 
Yoacomaco, where they first landed and planted the 
cross, must yield its honors to a point of land at the 
mouth of the Severn, made a town on paper in 1683, 
and called " the Town at Proctor's." 

Ignatius Loyola, the patron saint, has not been able 
to protect his honors from blight nor his votaries from 
ridicule. Has not the power of Popish rule passed 
from the province for ever? 



CHAPTER XVI. 
A. D. 1695. 

" Latitudinarian opinions are commonly attended with an answerable 
practice." — M akemie. 

THE great scarcity continues and increases. Often 
we sit at our tables with nothing but maize before 
us, and not much of that. During last year and this, 
twenty-five thousand four hundred and twenty-nine 
cattle and sixty-two thousand three hundred and sev- 
enty-five hogs have died in the province, leaving the 
poor still poorer.* Of course these hard times tell 
upon Mr. Wilson and Mr. Davis. 

It is fortunate that the seashore and the bayshore 
and these scores of rivers, are near with Nature's sup- 
plies. Said the adventurous Smith years ago : 

" We found in places that abundance of fish, lying so thick 
with their heads above the water as for want of nets (our barge 
driving amongst them) we attempted to catch them with a frying 
pan ; but we found it a bad instrument to catch fish with. Neither 
better fish, more plenty, nor more variety for small fish, had any 
of us ever seen in any place so swimming in the water, but they 
are not to be caught with frying pans." 

These fish are a godsend now. 

The colonists have become so disheartened of late 
that they have been deserting the province. The 
population was thinning to such an extent that the 
Assembly has been compelled to issue an order, 

* McShei ry's Maryland, p. 103. 
250 



A. D. 1695.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 25 1 

which has been read at our Somerset court, against 
persons leaving and going to the southward.* 

Amid the pressure of want and despondency, the 
" Crown requisitions " for help in defending New York 
against the Canadian French and their Indian allies, come 
upon us. It is claimed that Albany is a frontier of Mary- 
land and Virginia ! We are assessed one hundred and 
thirty-three pounds sterling — enough to bankrupt the 
province. New York, being asked to send a commis- 
sioner to witness our distressed condition, answers 
that such a commission would be too expensive for 
her resources — that the last one cost the govern- 
ment nineteen pounds! Reply is returned that the 
expense of nineteen pounds was extravagant, and 
that the aforesaid messenger " kept drunkening up 
and down and of very ill and rude behavior during 
his stay, and that it was no wonder for him to bring 
them in such an account of expenses, considering the 
character his brother Vander Brugh, at New Castle, 
bears." f 

Here we catch a glimpse of the diplomacy and the 
poverty of the early American governments. The 
poverty of our struggling Somerset churches may be 
inferred. 

On the 28th of February the Assembly held its first 
session in the new capital and called it "Annapolis," in 
honor of the sister of our late gracious queen. It 
may be wise to secure the favorable notice of one 
who will probably succeed to the throne. The As- 
sembly has been prudent enough to repeal former 
Establishment acts and let the province breathe a 
while. The blight of these acts, combined with the 
* Somerset records of 1695. f McMahon, p. 265, note. 



252 THE DAYS OF ]^AKEMIE. [A. D. 1695. 

threatenings of famine, is injuring the colony sadly. 
But the agitation goes on. 

In Philadelphia a church has just been built by the 
Episcopalians, and they have a clergyman by the name 
of Clayton. Hitherto there has been no regular wor- 
ship but by the Quakers and the Swedes. The latter 
are now without a pastor. Mr. Makemie is the first 
Presbyterian minister ever in the place. He keeps his 
eye upon it, and will be able hereafter to receive in- 
formation more promptly from the Quaker city. Let- 
ters sent across the Chesapeake will strike a post-route 
established this year, the first in America, and running 
from Newton's Point, on the Wicomico of the Western 
Shore, to Allen's mill, to Benedict Leonard's Town, 
over the Patuxent to George Lingan's, to Larkin's, to 
Annapolis, over to Kent, to Williamstadt, to Daniel 
Toaf's, to Adam Peterson's, on to New Castle, and 
thence to Philadelphia, The postman must travel the 
route eight times a year for an annual salary of fifty 
pounds.* 

Mr. Makemie's neighbor, William Teackle, died in 
January, after a life on the Peninsula of thirty-nine 
years. Three daughters — Margaret, Elizabeth and 
Catherine — and a two-year-old son named John, sur- 
vive him. He leaves extensive possessions in land 
and a fine library.f He has had both friends, and 
enemies, and felt no hesitation in collecting his tithes 
by law. We cannot forget that our own minister 
helped to pay these tithes. Six days before his depart- 
ure to other climes, the clergyman closed his will with 
the prayer, "And now. Lord Jesus, come quickly and 

*McMahon, p. 266. 

f Accomack records : full inventory of books. 



A. D. 1695.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 253 

let me receive thy gracious call, in thine own good 
time, to thy servant." A solemn, beautiful prayer, 
and not from the Prayer-Book. 

The Virginia clergy are clamoring for increase of 
salary. The House of Burgesses has just returned to 
their petition the following answer : 

[The clergy] "have considerable perquisites by marriages, 
burials and glebes, generally of the best lands, not less in most 
places than four or five hundred acres, and in some places not 
less than twice that quantity ; which glebes are well provided 
with houses, orchards, fences and pastures, to that degree that 
most if not all the ministers of this country are in as good a con- 
dition in point of hvelihood as a gentleman that is well seated 
and hath twelve or fourteen servants." 

The burgesses declare that they 

" are assured by their observation and certain knowledge that, 
when the ministers have proved frugal men, they have still 
raised their fortunes; from which it cannot but be necessarily 
concluded that the greatest part of the clergy are well content 
with their present provision, and that all informations made to 
the contrary have proceeded from none but such as are too ava- 
riciously inclined." ■^ 

Such is the testimony of the burgesses, themselves 
Episcopalians. Rev. John Monro, rector of Hungar's 
parish, a brother-in-law of Commissary Blair, and liv- 
ing not far below Mr. Makemie's Matchatank planta- 
tion, is one of these petitioners thus rebuked. Such 
facts do not stimulate our enthusiasm for an Estab- 
lishment. 

My father has taken me with him up to the new 
court-house at Dividing Creek, an imposing structure 
among the neighboring cabins. After crossing the 
river we stopped by the plantation of Squire James 
Round, one mile above the ferry, and Mrs. Mary 

* Anderson's Colonial Churchy ii. 388, etc. 



254 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1695. 

Round went up with us, sitting her piUion gracefully. 
This family are neighbors of ours, the plantation Good 
Success having been patented in 1686, the year Mr. 
Trail bought the plantation of Brother's Love. When 
we came in sight of the noble court-house building, 
standing upon its hill of light-colored soil, with its 
staunch brick gables and overjetted roof, its broad 
front of fifty feet facing the road, unenclosed as yet, 
the forest-trees casting their primeval shades about it, 
and the background of the swamps of creek and river 
shutting it around with their peculiar gloom, we 
reined up our steeds for a while, awed in the pres- 
ence of this enthronement of law in the heart of our 
American wilds. 

Soon the dignified array of justices take their seats 
— James Round, John Bozman, Matthew Scarborough, 
George Layfield, Thomas Newbold, Samuel Hopkins, 
Thomas Jones, Edmund Howard, Arnold Elzey, and, 
presiding over them, Mr. Makemie's warm friend Colonel 
Francis Jenkins. The original bench of commissioners 
of the peace appointed by Lord Baltimore nineteen years 
ago are all gone. As one of the presiding judges of the 
original array could neither read nor write, so it is with 
a number of these; but they are none the less conscious 
of representing in their persons the majesty of the law 
and the fortunes of a new empire. Some wear the 
broadcloth of Europe, some the product of the looms 
of Somerset; but, whatever the garb, the pride of 
high public trust is upon these sturdy colonists, and 
their mien is stately. I could see that Mrs. Round 
regarded her husband with great complacency. 

Among the constables, no less conscious than the 
justices of official importance, stands Mr. Thomas 



A. D. 1695.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 255 

Purnell of Bogatenorton Hundred. I never see a 
colonist from the seaside without thinking of the 
grand old major-general of Cromwell's Ironsides liv- 
ing up there amid the plaudits of the loud-voiced 
surf After the court has been called and order com- 
manded by Sheriff Ephraim Wilson, and after all the 
formalities of the opening have been observed, royalty 
itself appears as petitioner, and with far more probabil- 
ity of justice than King William at the hands of the 
Tory High Churchmen of his English Parliament. 
Daniel, king of the Pocomokes, with his retinue of 
attendants, comes to the bar and states his complaint 
—that the white man John Parker of Matapony is \ 
trespassing and building upon the land of this Ameri- / 
can monarch. ^ 

The Indian is asking his rights at the hands of a 
court that has never failed to mete out justice to his 
race. The question of boundaries is referred to eight 
commissioners, four of them selected by King Daniel 
and from his own friends of the forest— Assateague 
Weegnonah, Nuswuddux Dick, Pocomoke Thomas 
and Morumsco James. The white and the red com- 
missioners visit the land together, each one of equal 
authority with the other. Mr. Parker, a relative of 
Mr. Anderson and a friend of Mr. Makemie,* is a 
man of wealth and position. The report is made in 
favor of the king of the Pocomokes, and the trespasser 
must retire from the Indian's domain. 

I was proud of my county that day, and again de- 
nied to William Penn the exclusive and special credit 
for protection of the rights of the aborigines. Our 
little Lady Mary Somerset has no reason to be 
* One of the witnesses to Makemie's will. 



256 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1695. 

ashamed for giving her name to the county. Says 
Matchacoopah : 

" The strong mah-squallen " (" hawk ") " has guard- 
ed the nest of the ktih-hos'' ("the crow") "in the 
pine-tops." 

We Hsten to an order authorizing the building by 
Walter Taylor of a pasture-fence around the court- 
house land, two hundred and sixty panels, with posts 
and four rails ; also for building on this land a prison 
fifteen feet by twelve, that the Pocomoke as well as 
the Thames may have its Tower of London ; also for 
the construction of a bridge over the head of St. Mar- 
tin's River. Under the same high sanction, Edward 
Stevens is recognized as ferryman of Pocomoke at 
the reduced salary of five hundred pounds of tobac- 
co ; a few years since, it was three thousand. In such 
years as this, public officers must share the hardships 
attending the scarcity. We hear of the law just made 
across the bay at the new capital, and now to be en- 
forced, against the frequent assembling of negroes. 
Perhaps our burgesses have been frightened by the 
reported conspiracy of negroes against their masters 
on the island of Barbadoes two years ago. 

While our heroic king is gaining the victory over 
his great rival at Namur, while the English Parliament 
wallows in the corruptions of bribery, while Presby- 
terian Scotland leads the world in her purpose to es- 
tablish a school in every parish, while Dean Swift suc- 
ceeds the deposed prebendary of Kilroot, while the 
Presbytery of Laggan is memorializing the king for 
the benefits of toleration to those Presbyterians whose 
early zeal turned the scale for his cause, and while 
their petitions and rights are opposed with jeers and 



A. D. 1695.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 257 

taunts by Bishop Pullen (Mr. Makemie's old neighbor 
at Ramelton), — here, on our retired Eastern Shore, 
the officers of the law are sitting in the dignity of a 
primitive jurisprudence, managing the interests of our 
large county, and superintending its varieties of nation- 
alities and of races. 

On returning home that evening, we find Mr. Make- 
mie's sloop at the shore, and are not long in inspecting 
the following packages from his store : 



* 



2^ yds. broadcloth, 1 20 lbs. per yd 267 lbs. tob. 

6 dozen hair buttons, 10 lbs. per doz 60 " " 

3 yds. Scotch cloth, 26 lbs. per yd 78 " " 

6 yds. lawn, 24 lbs. per yd 144 " " 

Tobacco box 24 *•' " 

Wooden-handled knife 6 " " 

The broadcloth is for John, and I am more and more 
suspicious. Yesterday he was over toward the Mono- 
kin ; and when the twilight began to make everything 
look thoughtful under the Maryland haze, I noticed 
that he sat a long time by the silent river's edge 
humming a soft Troubadour air. John certainly has 
a right to be a little sentimental, but he is not the 
less soundly practical. You see that he succeeded 
in getting a reduction of three pounds of tobacco on 
the total of the broadcloth figures. 

There is around us a sad disposition to depreciate 
sound doctrine, and to think that it matters little what 
we believe if we are only sincere. Therefore I lis- 
tened the more attentively to Mr. Makemie that 
night : 

"A great impediment to regular and right living is latitude, or 
looseness, in principle and opinion, which has always a powerful 

* Somerset records, 1695 '■> connection with the sloop imaginary. 
17 



258 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. U. 1695. 

influence upon words and actions. For the understanding com- 
monly dictates to the will and the will sways the words and 
actions of life. Some from error in judgment call good evil and 
evil good and such must go astray in acting. Many suppose, if 
they take up with some things of virtue and Christianity, they 
shall no way be culpable if they omit and neglect many things 
though weightier than those that are done. ■ Others have loose 
notions of real religion and true piety and imagine and say 
there is no need of that severity and strictness in walk which 
some Precisians do cry up and practice; and hence indulge 
themselves in omissions and commissions daily which causeth 
irregularities in life. Some place rehgion in such things as have 
nothing of true virtue in them and are more strict in these than 
in the weighter matters of the law. Others deny the Divine 
authority and Gospel institution of the sealing ordinances annexed 
to the covenant of grace ; therefore not only live in the neglect of 
them but deny and ridicule them. Some in opinion deny any 
moral precept in the fourth commandment, therefore profane the 
Lord's Day at an unchristian rate."* 

This led to some conversation about the open 
profanation of God's holy day by the Quakers. Mr. 
Makemie said : 

" The charge that highly offended many of that gang, is con- 
cerning a question in my Catechism concerning the Sabbath. In 
the answer I affirm, Quakers and profane persons are enemies to 
the Sabbath. All the Quakers I ever conversed with in Europe 
or America declared this as their undoubted judgment that all 
days were ahke under the Gospel and none of perpetual obser- 
vation as a day of rest ; and, further, that they were as free to 
work or labor in their several callings and trades on the first day 
of the week as any other. I am able to give several instances. 
I am lately informed of several servants of Quakers, otherwise 
educated, who have made complaint to magistrates of their mas- 
ters' causing them to follow their daily labor. A witness yet 
ahve can declare, being on a Sabbath at Thomas Evernden's 
house, he perceived no manner of worship with his family but 
great diligence in despatching one of his servants with necessaries 
for building a sloop. I have met one of them with a gun in the 
woods on the Sabbath while we were going to the public worship 
of God. As many as know Quakers in England, Scotland and 
* New York sermon. 



A. D. 1695.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 259 

Ireland cannot be ignorant how, neither from obedience to God 
or man, could they be persuaded to observe the first day of the 
week but would keep open their shops and follow their several 
callings ; for which they were often drawn to prison and their 
goods carried away. This was not done in a corner but mani- 
fest and known to all." ■^ 

Whatever may be the occasional virtues of the 
Quakers, it is very natural that Mr. Makemie and 
those of us who have been trained in reverence of 
God's holy day should be shocked at the contempt 
put upon it by these people. 

The next morning our Pioneer, dropping good seed 
by the way, sails on up toward Snow Hill to trade at 
its wharf and to preach for Mr. Davis on Sabbath. 
Our clouds of mosquitoes cannot deter him from his 
work. We remember the contemptuous answer of 
Governor Bradford of the Plymouth colony to those 
complaining of this annoyance : " They are too deli- 
cate and unfit to begin new plantations and colonies 
that cannot endure the biting of a mosquito. We 
would wish such to keep at home till at least they 
be mosquito-proof." Mr. Makemie has been bitten 
by many a mosquito. 

Thomas Story, another champion of the Quakers, 
who not long ago left Episcopacy for the other ex- 
treme, thus ventilates his estimate of Mr. Makemie's 
old opponent, writing of a man in England who ap- 
proached him this year on the subject of the schism : 

"Advancing toward me he began to discourse about George 
Keith, saying that we had missed our way in contending with 
him as we did ; for he being a man of learning and knowledge, 
might have been very serviceable to our Society in helping us 
over some mistakes we labor under. I replied that we were not 
* Answer to Keith. 



26o THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1695. 

under mistake about the Christian faith or rehgion or any part of 
it, and did not want instruction from George Keith or any other 
like unto him, we being taught of the Lord."* 

It is amusing to see two violently antagonistic par- 
ties making the same arrogant pretensions to divine 
guidance and infallibility. Mr. Makemie's exposure 
of this is giving a heavy blow along our shores to 
the extravagant self- righteousness of both. 

John and William and Martha and I have been 
trying to sing from the Bay Ps alm-B 00 k ]ust obtained 
from a New England trading-ketch. It was first pub- 
lished in 1640 — the first book issued from the Amer- 
ican press. Ours is the ninth edition, issued this year, 
with the air and bass — the first music published on the 
continent. Here are the glorious tunes regarded by 
many as almost inspired and a sin for any other to be 
substituted— '' Oxford," "York," "Litchfield," "Wind- 
sor," " St. David's," " Martyrs " — and directions are 
given for setting the tunes so as to avoid " squeaking 
above or grumbling below." So we did our best upon 
the fifty-first psalm, trying first or last all the tunes : 

" Create in mee clean heart at last, 

God ; a right spirit in mee new make. 
Nor from thy presence quite mee cast, 

thy holy spright not from mee take. 
Mee thy salvation's joy restore, 

and stay mee with thy spirit free. 
I will trangressors teach thy lore, 

and sinners shall be turned to thee." 

Henry Hudson, as he rowed up to the bank, heard 
our efforts and charged us with both " squeaking 
above and grumbling below." 

* Story's Wo7-ks. 



CHAPTER XVII. 
A. D. 1696. 

" The heart and spirit of man is so stirring and active a thing that il 
is never at quiet or rest but always employed about either good or 
evil." — Makemie. 

'T^HE winter through which we have passed has 
J- been one of the hardest in the history of the col- 
ony. Deprived of our native suppHes of beef and pork, 
Ave have had httle with which to purchase anything 
from abroad. An opossum or a raccoon or a bear 
from the woods has brought timely relief to many, 
and for these the poor Indians have been constant 
competitors. The Assembly has relented and repealed 
the law against striking fish in Dorchester and Somer- 
set, and the red men have brought much of this food 
to our doors. 

What could we have done through these dark days 
without the gospel? There was gloom along our 
many streams and gloom along the seaboard; the 
clam-shoals and the oyster-banks and the fishing- 
coves have been our chief dependence. The very 
cry of the fish-hawks seemed to tantalize with rivalry 
and need. Through it all, at Snow Hill, at Monokin, 
at Rehoboth, the voices of Samuel Davis, Thomas 
Wilson and Francis Makemie have been heard telling 
of the faithfulness of the covenant-keeping God and 

261 



262 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1696. 

proclaiming the privileges of the saints in Christ. 
We saw our ministers sharing with us the hard 
times. 

Two heavy blows to her prosperity have fallen upon 
Maryland — these afflictive years of threatened famine 
and this attempted change from perfect toleration to 
religious tithing and persecution. Immigration has 
been checked and our own population alienated. 

In the midst of troubles like these, it is cheering to 
sit in our primitive Rehoboth temple and listen to the 
minister dwelling upon the blessed old gospel themes. 
For a while we would be rapt away into oblivion of all 
the sorrows of earth. Shall I ever forget the tones of 
Mr. Makemie's voice while the words " glory " and 
" glorious " rang, and rang again, through the inspir- 
ing climax ? 

" This consists in two steps ; one is at the dissolution of soul 
and body by death, when the souls of the renewed and right- 
eous, in whom the seed of saving Hght and grace have been 
sown, which has appeared with some suitable fruit and improve- 
ment in a day and season of grace, shall lay aside their earthly 
veil and clay tabernacle for a time, and shall ascend into the 
world of spirits above, into the kingdom of our heavenly Fa- 
ther, there to be glorified or translated into his hkeness by be- 
holding his glory ; and so shall be fit to dwell and converse with 
the spirits of the just made perfect; and shall be with Christ in 
unspeakable and inconceivable glory where nothing shall enter 
that defileth, and where no stain or spot of pollution shall cleave 
to any soul ; but a perfect rectitude and conformity of soul to the 
image of God, shall shine in its full meridian, made possessor of 
that glorious peace where are many glorious mansions prepared 
by our glorified Redeemer ; where there are a glorious company 
of sinless and pure angels and purified spirits made perfect ; and 
a glorious and unchangeable state of rest and reward for ever, 
without sin, suffering or temptation. And all this while their 
bodies are paying their debt to the dust and passing through 
corruption, as it were performing their last sleep, only in order to 



A. D. 1696.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 263 

a more joyful awakening and resurrection unto an endless life in 
the last day. 

"But the final perfection and absolute consummation of this 
promised salvation, shall be after the resurrection, when, after 
the final appearance of the Lord Jesus to the last Judgment and 
reunion of soul and body, they shall be solemnly adjudged and 
openly declared to be what they were, living and dying, the 
blessed and redeemed of the Lord Jesus, and shall be invited 
with a, ' Come ye blessed of my Father,' and ushered in and put 
mto an eternal and uninterrupted possession of an uncorruptible 
crown and heavenly kingdom wherein both body and soul shall 
be cloathed for ever with incorruptible glory that fadeth not 
away."* 

Notwithstanding the privations everywhere endured, 
the votaries of Church establishment are pressing their 
aims unflinchingly. Our governor has urged the col- 
lection of tithes in some of the counties, and has ef- 
fected the erection of churches in St. Mary's, Calvert, 
Charles, Cecil and Talbot. If his zeal for a pure 
Christianity were equal to his zeal for the Church, 
we would be more patient under these exactions. 
This year all former laws have been repealed and 
another enacted, in which, among other provisions, 
they want a bishop on a large salary, to sit in the 
Upper House as one of our rulers. They have blun- 
dered again, and we are confident that the new law 
must fail in getting the assent of the home govern- 
ment. The Episcopal legislators are so eager that 
they forget to observe the simplest legal formalities. 
In this case I am told that they have included in the 
enactment several important matters not named in the 
title, thus vitiating the whole. The Quakers and the 
Catholics are awake for the detection of such irregu- 
larities, and have their agents on the alert at home. 

* New York sermon. 



264 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1696. 

For we all still speak of the fatherland as koine. 

In Virginia they have just advanced the salary of 
their clergy to sixteen thousand pounds of tobacco in 
addition to their glebes. Thus the opposition of leg- 
islators eventually yields to the pertinacity of these 
demands. Of course our own preacher must pay his 
proportion of the increased tax. On the records of 
Accomack for this year appears the minute that Mr. 
Makemie brings a negro slave Jack into court, " desir- 
ing ye court's inspection of his age that he might be 
accordingly duly entered in the list of tithables; whom 
the court accordingly judged at eleven years of age." 
Thus the law-abiding Presbyterian divine makes no 
factious opposition to "the powers that be." 

Meanwhile, one of the best Church-of-England 
clergymen thus writes to the Bishop of London : 

" Your clergy in these parts are of very ill example. No dis- 
cipline nor canons of the church are observed. Several ministers 
have caused such high scandals of late and have raised such 
prejudices amongst the people against the clergy that hardly can 
they be persuaded to take a clergyman into their parish. I must 
tell you I find abundance of good people who are wiUing to serve 
God but they want good ministers, ministers that be very pious 
and not wedded to this world as the best of them are. The 
clergy is composed for the most part of Scotchmen, people in- 
deed so basely educated, or little acquainted with the executing 
of their charge and duty, that their lives and conversation are 
fitter to make heathens than Christians." 

So testifies the Rev. Nicholas Moreau, telling tales 
out of school.* 

Since the domination of Prelacy has passed away 
from Scotland, many of the former rectors and curates 
— late spies and informers against the persecuted Pres- 
byterians — have been prompt to conform, subscribe the 

* Bishop Meade's Old Churches^ etc., i. 384. 



A. D. 1696.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 265 

Confession of Faith and creep under the wing of a 
Church which they hate, while others look abroad for 
their bread ; so that the facts support Mr. Moreau in 
thinking that it is not greatly to the credit of any 
Episcopal clergyman to hail from Scotland during the 
last few years. We notice that a number have lately 
come over to Virginia with Scotch names.* 

This same year, in Ireland, Bishop King is oppos- 
ing the admission of Presbyterians to office with the 
unanswerable argument that if this be done many of 
the present adherents of Prelacy can be retained 
neither by reason nor by Scripture, and declares that 
" most people value their interest more than their re- 
ligion." This is a low estimate to be put upon his 
own flock by a bigoted prelate. 

In the midst of these discouraging aspects of the 
Establishment question, we are glad to hear of the 
appointment by the Bishop of London of a really 
good and devoted man to the office of commissary 
of Maryland. Dr. Thomas Bray is said to be an able 
clergyman, of irreproachable character, now forty-five 
years of age, full of zeal and of sterling piety. We shall 
sincerely rejoice if this leading ecclesiastic of our prov- 
ince is to be one whose influence shall be for Christ 
and for the restraint of an unworthy ministry. He has 
waited upon the princess Anne and asked her accept- 
ance of the respect intended in giving her name to 
our State capital. She acknowledges the honor very 
graciously by offering a donation to purchase books 
for a library at Annapolis. 

John Coode, the leader of the Associators, has been 
plotting against the government again. Elected to the 

^ Neill's Virginia Colonial Clergy, 



266 THE DAYS OF MAKE M IE. [A. D. 1696. 

Assembly, he was prevented taking his seat there on 
the ground of his being " in holy orders." His holy 
orders have their comment in the fact that he has been 
publicly asserting that religion is a trick, reviling the 
apostles, denying the divinity of Christianity and alleg- 
ing that all the morals worth having are contained in 
Cicero's Offices. He has been indicted by the grand 
jury of St Mary's for atheism and blasphemy, and 
has fled to Virginia. This is the man who was a 
revolutionist in the name of the Church ! Nor would 
all this have been likely to disgrace a churchman in 
the estimation of our governor had not Coode declared 
he had overthrown one government and would pull 
down another.* 

There is a growing zeal for free schools among our 
rulers. The former law passed during Nicholson's 
administration having proved inefficient, another is 
now passed looking to the establishment of a school 
in every county. An academy called ** King William's 
School " is placed, under this act, at Annapolis, and 
another prospectively on the Eastern Shore at Oxford. 
For carrying all this into effect a corporation has been 
formed and the Rev. John Hewett of our county ap- 
pointed one of the body. Says Mr. Makemie, whose 
notice no public interest escapes : 

" The smallest and meanest of schools cannot be maintained 
without a competent number of scholars, which has been our 
great discouragement in Virginia and Maryland, where the num- 
ber to be entertained together are too few to maintain any Mas- 
ter or Mistress, who are necessitated to shift from place to place 
until they cannot live at all by that calling. So that in many- 
remote corners many families never had opportunities of schools 
and therefore remain without all knowledge of letters." f 

* McMahon and McSherry, in loco. f Makemie's Pers7oasive. 



A. D. 1696.] THE DA YS OF MAKE MI E. 267 

The hardships of the last two years have done 
some good in giving a new impulse to our home 
manufactures. Somerset has led the province in this 
industry, in both linen and woolen goods. We have 
visited the looms of Lawrence Benston and Malachi 
Glass and bought some of their cloths. Were it not 
for the selfish hostility of the English government to 
any competition in her colonies, why should not these 
streams be bordered by thousands of looms, and Som- 
erset become as famous as Somersetshire, England, 
for her " reds " and " whites " and " azures " and 
"blues"? (53). 

Those who welcomed us to the continent on our 
first landing, sixteen years ago, are rapidly passing 
away. Early this spring Mrs. Elizabeth Layfield — 
formerly Mrs. William Stevens — dies, and is buried 
by the side of her first husband. The graveyard is 
fast filling up. For the dead as well as for the living 
— " Rehoboth " — there is room ! 

News comes to us of great scarcity in Scotland, 
financial panics in England and new plots for the 
assassination of the king. The loss of his faithful 
queen makes his lofty elevation an enthronement of 
loneliness, and now, under the constant harassments of 
his reign and the base ingratitude of those whom he 
came to deliver, it is said that the marvelous fortitude 
of William has almost failed him, and that he is talking 
of relinquishing the crown and retiring to the Indies.* 
Anon his spirit reacts : he is the brave hero of old ; 
and the attempt at assassination is likely to establish 
him more firmly in the hearts of his people. 

While thinking of the troubles of royalty in Eng- 
* Knight's History, v. 34, etc. 



268 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1696. 

land, some of us start upon a trip to a royal palace on 
our own shore. Matchacoopah has long been inviting 
us to the town up the river. Henry Hudson forms one 
of the party of exploration, and Margaret and Mary 
and Peggy and myself are in constant dread of his 
hideous discoveries. The rich autumn foliage looks 
like a forest on fire, blazing down into the depths of 
the reflecting waters. Like dying Christians, the 
birds are singing their sweetest notes before taking 
flight for winterless climes. The herons gaze at us 
unaffrighted, and the stately cranes stand along the 
edge of the almost tropical river, dignified and con- 
templative. 

" Straight-faced Presbyterians at prayer," says the 
wicked Henry Hudson. 

'' Ana-sup f whispers Matchacoopah. His quick eye 
has discovered a raccoon hunting frogs among the 
tuckahoes, and his practical arrow transfixes him. 
Now he sees a large fish in the waveless waters, and 
ik-ke-hck (the spear-head) strikes, and the game is his. 
" The white man's bad law has died as kosli-kik-ene- 
suc " (" the perch ") *' dies," says the Indian, in triumph. 

Now a little settlement of colonists is seen on the 
right as we ascend — a hill of sand almost as white as 
snow ; scattered log cabins ; many of the old forest- 
trees still standing ; garden-patches of ripened maize 
and potatoes ; narrow, crooked paths running through 
the settlement from cabin to cabin ; two or three larger 
buildings used for both stores and dwellings ; a shed 
warehouse for tobacco near the river, a more impos- 
ing edifice of cypress logs and shingles standing back 
among the trees upon the hill. This is the Presbyte- 
rian meeting-house in which Mr. Davis has preached 



A. D. 1696.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 269 

for SO many years. It is a plain building about thirty 
feet long, but venerable as a sanctuary of the great God 
from which the gospel light beams gloriously forth 
upon the wilderness. This is the dry, elevated point 
where the town insisted upon locating itself instead of 
obeying the act of Assembly which would have sent 
it farther up the river, to '* Morgan's land commonly 
called Burrow's." 

At the shore are a dozen or twenty Indian periau- 
guas, their tawny owners up at the licensed stores 
trading furs and game for the white man's tempting 
wares. By the law passed four years ago, no one is 
permitted to traffic with the savages without license. 
Here float the fleets of commerce from the city of 
the aborigines on beyond. 

A gentleman dressed in the woolen cloth of our 
county's manufacture is walking one of the paths 
through this village of primitive cabins. As he comes 
nearer we hail him respectfully — for is he not God's 
servant ? — and ask him to become one of our com- 
pany. We feel greatly honored at his prompt accept- 
ance of the invitation and at his pleasing recognition 
of the representative voyagers of England, Scotland, 
Ireland and France. Henry Hudson gives him the title 
of " chaplain of the grand armada of allied nations." 

Passing under the great Pocomoke bridge, we see 
workmen repairing ** the causeway in the mesh oppo- 
site the Snow Hill landing," as ordered by the court 
this year.* 

Ascending the stream, that continues to narrow and 
widen, between low islands and groves of trees which 
grow out of the waters, we come ere long in sight of 

* Somerset records. 



270 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1696. 

a town upon our left considerably larger than the one 
we had passed. Out through the pine-forests the wig- 
wams straggle away irregularly, built of poles and cov- 
ered with bark and surrounding a larger cabin in the 
centre. Numbers of men sit near the wigwam doors 
silently smoking. In the maize-patches the women 
are at work gathering and bringing in the yellow ears. 
This is Askimmekonson, the chief seat of the Indians 
along the Pocomoke, the capital of their tatt-ak, or 
king. 

Off to one side we see the burial-place of the tribe, 
the cemetery of the royal city. For the Indian too 
must die, and in the years to come the dust of the 
sons of the forest and that of the sons of Europe will 
mingle, the old graveyards of the one becoming the 
new graveyards of the other. In the grave the 
Indian corpse is placed in a sitting posture, buried 
with its favorite weapons or trinkets, and covered only 
with the bark of trees. It is not pleasant to go near 
these places of the dead. 

Besides this, there is a house, which they call nian- 
tokump, in which they keep the bones and the em- 
balmed bodies of some of their dead ; that for their 
chiefs and great men is called quioccason. The art of 
embalming is said to be a specialty of the Nanticokes. 
For these bodies they have great reverence, and the 
qiiioccaso7i is to the Indians a nobler house than the 
palace. Our irrepressible Hudson was almost over- 
borne by his curiosity to invade this citadel of the 
dead, and would gladly have carried off some of the 
hideous contents. 

Certain favorites of the royal wigwam come to the 
shore and lead us to the presence of majesty, King 



A. D. 1696.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 2J\ 

Wynicaco. Matchacoopah acts as interpreter. The 
old chief welcomes us with dignified courtesy and 
has us seated around him in the oblong cabin. Spe- 
cial attention is paid to our minister as the wizard-man 
of our tribe. The pipe is brought, and it passes from 
the monarch's mouth to his, and then around the cir- 
cle until it has touched the lips of all. It is fortunate 
to have Mr. Davis with us, for through our interpreter 
he succeeds in bringing out information which I have 
been very anxious to secure about the history of our 
Somerset Indians. In Captain Smith's explorations I 
knew that the river Nanticoke, from which they now 
take their name, was called " Cuskarawaock," and that 
he mentions along its banks their four towns of Sari- 
panagh, Nanse, Aroeck and Nantaquack. The latter 
is suggestive of their true name. This was in 1608. 

The old king inquired for George Fox, whose 
strange utterances he remembers, and he seemed im- 
pressed when we told him that the great " Quakel " 
had passed away five years ago. In answer to inqui- 
ries by Mr. Davis, the monarch of Askimmekonson 
spoke as follows (54) : 

" We are the grandchildren of the Lenni Lenapes. 
Our grandfather now lives to the north. When Mann- 
itt, the Great Spirit, was sending our fathers from the 
far west toward the coast, he asked, ' Who will hunt 
the wild beasts in the mountains and dark forests ? 
Who will love the rivers and bays, and spear want- 
map ' " (" the fish ") " ' and trap nataqiie ' " (" the bea- 
ver ") ? "And our fathers answered, * We will set the 
traps along the streams ; zve will take wamniap from 
the waves; our children shall swim in the waters. 
Let others hunt over the mountains and plunge into 



2/2 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1696. 

the miles of gloomy forests where Mann-ann-tote'" 
(the devil) " ' goes up and down.' And Mann-itt " 
(the Good Spirit) " said, ' It is well.' 

" Then came our fathers to the land of streams and 
bays. Mann-itt called us ' Nentego.' Our grandfather, 
the Lenapes, called us * Unechtgo.' The Iroquois 
called us ' Sganiateratichrohne.' All these mean the 
tide-ivater people. Because across the Nassiango, the 
Aracoco, the Pocosin, and hundreds of other streams, 
we cut down the trees and fix our traps upon them, 
therefore the Mohicans call us the * Otayachgo ' and 
the Delawares call us the * Tayachquans,' meaning that 
we make a dry passage over rivers. And now waminap '* 
("the fish") "comes swimming to our wigwams. Na- 
taqtie'' ("the beaver") "smells our traps. Kaw-scheh'' 
("the oyster") "and inoon-nin-nack'' ("the mannose") 
do not run from our canoes. The land of a thousand 
streams and talking waves is dear to the Indian's heart. 

" We love our dead. When we pull down our wig- 
wams and go, they go with us. We cannot leave them 
to pine in a land of strangers. The touch of rude 
hands upon their graves would break their hearts. 
Tsee-ep " (" their ghosts ") " would moan through the 
woods uncomforted. 

" We have a poison that is dreadful. Mann-itt 
showed it to us for our safety. It sweeps whole set- 
tlements into death. It strikes as the lightning strikes 
pah-scanemintz" ("the beech tree") "and wee-seeke- 
mintz " (" the oak tree ") "of the forests. The enemy 
trembles and falls. 

" We have wise men and wizards who tell us what 
Mann-itt wishes. They bewitch those whom they 
hate. They destroy an army by puffing their breath 



A. D. 1696.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 273 

at them. They bring the north-easter or make it 
cease to blow. Their power is great. 

** Our poisons and wizards are not for the palefaces. 
They have been good and kind. They will not let 
their bad men steal our land. We punish bad Indians 
who kill their hogs. We will enjoy together the thou- 
sand streams and talking waves." 

Matchacoopah goes near King Wynicaco, as if to 
ask a boon, and seems to secure the quest. Then 
he takes my brother and myself and leads us to the 
door of another wigwam, entering, while we remain at 
the door. A mat wrought of corn-husks and cat-tails 
is lying before the fire. Matchacoopah goes and sits 
upon one end of it, laying down a string of beads, 
which I had given, and two otter-skins. There he sits 
without speaking a word. Now we see a light-colored, 
dark-eyed maiden come from another part of the cabin 
in silence and hand him a wooden platter of hominy. 
While he quietly eats it, she modestly turns her face 
another way, and sits down near him on the other 
end of the mat. 

The parents of the maiden and ourselves have 
looked on without speaking. This means approval, 
and the brief marriage ceremony is ended and our 
friend and the bright-eyed maiden are henceforth 
one. We turn our prows down the Pocomoke, bear- 
ing away upon its bosom as bride the belle of 
Askimmekonson. 

Mr. Davis has lately heard from Mr. Josias Mackie 
of Elizabeth River, and tells us that he is living com- 
fortably upon his hundred and fifty acres of land near 
the Back Bay. In addition to his former three places 
of preaching, he has just had a fourth place recorded 

18 



274 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1696. 

— the house of Mr. John Dickson, in Southern 
Branch.* 

While putting the Snow Hill minister ashore, we 
stop a while at the store of Mr. Spence and make the 
following purchases (the last six articles are a present 
from our gentlemen to the bride) :t 

I quire paper 15 lbs. tobacco. 

12 lbs. 6-penny nails 70 " 

I m. pins 20 " 

1 pair gloves 18 " 

2 pair of girls' stockings 20 " 

I sifter 30 " 

Needles and thimble 6 " 

I pair steel tongs 6 " 

I match coal 120 " 

Mr. Makemie regrets the inconvenience in trade oc- 
casioned by our want of a better currency. He says: 

" Carolina, Barbadoes, Pennsylvania, New York and New 
England carry from us the little scattered coin we have among 
us, but, which is the worst of all, they prey upon that little money 
we have in England by purchasing bills of exchange. Our pay 
at present is very bad and uncertain, being in parcels of tobacco 
and scattered abroad for sundry years before it amounts to a 
sum." X 

If the colonists generally were as enterprising and 
public-spirited as our minister, many of the disadvan- 
tages of our colonial condition might soon be obviated. 

I must not forget to inform Mr. Makemie of the 
late visit of Mr. Davis to the Presbyterians at Hoarkil 
(Lewes), and of what he tells us of the building this 
year of the first Episcopal church in New York. 
Our preachers still keep watch to the northward. 

* Sprague's Annals. 

f Bill from Somerset records, 1696. 

J Makemie's Perswasive. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
A. D. 1697. 

" The universal scope of the Word of God is to direct, instruct, pro- 
mote and accomplish this thing; not only to assume a name, to fill our 
heads with fruitless notions and empty speculations, or gain a religious 
reputation — but, a godly life.''^ — Makemie. 

MAJOR KING was over from the Monokin, Mr. 
Venable from up on the Wicomico, Mr. Spence 
from Snow Hill, and Mr. Ambrose White from the 
banks of St. Martin's River. They had been attend- 
ing court at Dividing Creek, and rode over to spend 
the night with us. Our cattle and hogs nearly all 
dead, we feed our guests upon yellow pone and timely 
captures from water and woods. John is always ready 
to issue at the muzzle of his new flint-lock gun that 
writ with the Latin name mentioned by the indentured 
servant George Alsop : 

•' Fowls of all sorts and varieties dwell at their several times 
and seasons here in Mary-Land. The Turkey, the Woodcock, 
the Pheasant, the Partrich, the Pigeon and others ; especially the 
Turkey, whom I have seen in whole hundreds in flight in the 
Woods of Mary-Land, being an extraordinary fat Fowl whose 
flesh is very pleasant and sweet. These fowls that I have named 
are intayled from generation to generation to the Woods. The 
Swans, the Geese and Ducks, with other Water-Fowl, derogate 
in this point of settled residence ; for they arrive in millionous 
multitudes in Mary-Land about the middle of September and 
take their winged farewell about the middle of March. But 
while they do remain and beleaguer the borders of the shear 

275 



2/6 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1697. 

with their winged Dragoons, several of them are summoned by 
a Writ oi fieri facias to answer their presumptuous contempt 
upon a Spit." 

I was greatly interested in seeing the strong Presby- 
terians of the American wilds turn so easily from the 
common details of colonial life to the deepest ques- 
tions of theology. 

First they discuss the current news — a fine imposed 
for riding or leading any horse into our new court- 
house; an order that Mr. WilHam Fassett be joined 
overseer of the roads for Seny Puxone (Sinepuxent) 
with Mr. John Freeman ; the appointment of Mr. 
John Powell as constable for Bogatenorton Hun- 
dred ; a permit granted to Mr. Edward Jones to keep 
an ordinary, or place of entertainment, with food and 
the fire-waters, on the court-house grounds ; a law 
made by the Assembly for quieting differences be- 
tween Indians and whites in private controversies ; 
the report of Samuel Hopkins, John Franklin and 
William Round, commissioners for dividing Bogate- 
norton Hundred : 

" Divisional line to begin at the mouth of John Franklin's 
Creek and up the said Creek and branch to Golden Quarter 
bridge and from thence still up the said branch known and 
called by the name of the Tanfatts on the north side of Mr. 
Wales' plantation at Coy's Folly, and from thence to extend to 
the branches of Pocomoke river upon a north-east line." 

The new division is to be called " Baltimore Hun- 
dred." Notwithstanding the displacement of the 
Proprietary, our part of the province thus honors 
him. 

Our guests speak of the falling off in colonial pros- 
perity under the royal government, the population 



A. D. 1697.J THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 2// 

rather declining than increasing. They tell of the 
late dismissal from office of Mr. Cheseldine, another 
of the chief Associators, because of negligence. So 
the leaders in this religious revolution fall one after 
another. 

Now I hear them talking of the humiliation of 
Arthur Whitehead, in Accomack, in being compelled 
by judicial order to confess in open court a base 
slander against Tully Robinson, one of Mr. Make- 
mie's Virginia friends. The way of the trangressor is 
hard indeed when he falls into the hands of colonial 
justices. Our guests also discuss the accusation 
just brought against our province by the Virginia 
clergyman, Hugh Jones: 

" They are, generally speaking, crafty, knavish, litigious dis- 
semblers, and debauched. A gentleman (I mean one of the 
Cambro-Briton temper) is rara avis in terris. As to the peo- 
ple's disposition in matters of religion, they will follow none out 
of the path of interest and they heartily embrace none but such 
as will fill the barn and the basket. Most sects are here pro- 
fessed, but in general they are practical atheists."^ 

"The reverend author did not associate with the 
Dissenters/* said Mr. Venable, smiline 

Our friends speak of the frightful mortality prevail- 
ing in Charles county— the worst ever known in the 
province. The Romish priests have been too atten- 
tive to the sufferers to suit the few inefficient Epis- 
copal clergy, and it has been brought to the notice 
of the Assembly. The pliant Assembly have re- 
quested the governor to restrain the priests from these 
offices of mercy, by proclamation. These parties are 
more zealous in protecting their Church from rivalry 

* Campbell's Virginia, \). ^Sl- 



278 THE DA YS OF MA REM IE. [A. D. 1697. 

than in protecting the colonists from pestilence and 
death.* 

Mr. White has heard that Mr. Vesey, the first 
Episcopal minister in New York, preached for the 
first time in Trinity Church on the 6th of February. 
A graduate of Harvard and sent by Increase Mather 
to confirm the minds of the Congregationalists who 
had removed thither from New England, he has been 
brought over by the governor, and will, of course, be- 
come a violent High Churchman.f 

The conversation crosses the ocean to the excitement 
caused in London by the attendance of the lord mayor 
in the trappings of his office upon the services in a 
meeting-house of the Dissenters. One would think, 
from the clamor made, that he was guilty of high 
treason. The grievances of Presbyterians increase 
in Ireland, the prosperity of our Church arousing the 
hostility of the prelates more and more. Attempts 
are made to prevent the sending of children to any 
except Episcopal teachers, to prohibit all marriages 
except by the prelatic clergy, and even to forbid the 
burial of the dead without the reading of the pre- 
scribed service by Episcopal lips. 

Again we are back upon the Pocomoke. and they 
speak of the order of the justices that the Rev. John 
Hewett, the Rev. Samuel Davis and the Rev. James 
Brechin attend court and give a list of all persons 
whom they have married by publication or license. 
Thus a record of marriages of first settlers is bes^un, 
to which they are adding births and deaths — a matter 
of no little interest in the days to come, if our lower 

* McSherry and McMahon, in loco. 

f Gillett's History of the Presbyterian Church, p. 136. 



A. D. 1697.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 2/9 

Eastern Shore is ever to have a history. Mr. Make- 
mie lives in Virginia, and Mr. Wilson has passed 
away; so that there are but three ministers in the 
county (55). 

Our guests talk of the continued efforts for the Es- 
tablishment. The zealous governor has been gather- 
ing information about the churches for the use of the 
ecclesiastical authorities in England, and has instructed 
the counties to send him statistics. Our sheriff is said 
to have reported as follows : 

" Here are neither Popish priests, Lay Brothers, nor any 
chapels. As to Quakers and other Dissenters, to the first none 
as I know particular ; and the others hath a house in Snow Hill, 
one on the road going up along the seaside, and one at Monokin, 
about thirty feet long, plain country buildings all of them" (56). 

These statistics are gathered very loosely, and not 
often under the official signatures of the sheriffs. 
Even the number of Church-of-England ministers in 
the colony has been variously stated at from three to 
sixteen. 

When I heard the conversation again, these colonists 
were in the very depths of doctrinal themes, deploring 
the laxness of thought and sentiment around us, and 
avowing their own staunch Trinitarian faith. My father 
takes down his copy of Mr. Makemie's last publication 
and reads the reply to Keith's criticism on the state- 
ment of the Catechism, page third, that there are three 
Persons in the Godhead. Keith had written: 

" This is not Scripture language, to say Three Persons, The 
mystery of the Three, to wit, the Father, the Son and the Holy 
Ghost who are one God, is great and glorious and ought to be 
reverently conceived and expressed in Scripture words which 
the Holy Ghost hath taught, but not in words of man's wis- 
dom." 



28o THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1697. 

Mr. Makemie's acquaintance with Church history 
is a valuable help in detecting the reproductions of 
hoary heresies among modern sects. My father reads 
as follows : 

" I incline not to rip up the gross errors of ancient heretics 
concerning this doctrine, as of Apollinarius, Arius, Rhosianus, 
Nestorius, Sabellius and others ; and am not a little concerned 
that Quakers, pretending to so great and so good things, should 
join hand in hand with such, whose subtildes have been long 
since cunningly silenced and exploded. As when Solomon 
Acles of Barbadoes asserted this doctrine to be a Presbyterian 
ficdon. Waving that uncharitableness Keith was notoriously 
guilty of concerning me and others, I conceive he only contends 
about words by calling Three Persons in the Godhead not Script- 
ure language but words of man's wisdom, as all our doctrines 
and writings are commonly calumniated. 

"All such are censured in the words of holy Calvin, that 
eminent man of God, Lib. i. Cap. 13. ' What hinders,' saith he, 
' but we may in more plain words express such things as are 
mysterious to ordinary capacities where there are necessary 
grounds urging thereunto ?' ' Such,' saith he, ' as quarrel this, 
must be reputed to be grieved at the light of the truth ; because 
he quarrels this, that the truth is made so easy and plain to be 
discerned.' And the reason given by this author why the 
churches of Christ are necessitated to use such novelty of words, 
if they be so called, is when the truth is to be defended against 
wranglers who deride it with quibbles. So the old Fathers, be- 
ing troubled with false doctrines, were necessitated to express 
themselves in exquisite plainness lest they should leave any 
crooked by-ways to the wicked, to whom the doubtful construc- 
tions of words were hiding-places of errors." 

Said Mr. White : 

*• Mr. Makemie and holy Calvin, as he calls him, see 
the advantage, in times like these, of clear formularies 
of doctrine — recognized symbols and creeds based 
upon the Bible and so lucidly defined that there can 
be no mistake or subterfuge. These are a powerful 
safeguard in formative periods of society and of the 



A. D, 1697.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 28 1 

Church, and are always intensely hated by the enemies 
of the truth." 

My father read on : 

•• All that Keith would seem to allege is that it is not Scripture 
language; whereby he would seem to favor the great funda- 
mental principle most of his brethren have been blasphemously 
barking against these thirty or forty years, and devoutly to say 
for himself, There are Three in one. If this great and funda- 
mental truth would be made plain to the edification of the 
Church of God, to which it is so highly necessary that God can 
neither be known, believed in or called aright without it, then 
some denomination must be ascribed and given differing from 
one another in incommunicable properties. For they must 
either be three somethings or three nothings. The latter being 
rejected, if three somethings, they must be either three Gods, 
three essences, three parts of the same essence, or three quali- 
ties, or three names, or three manners or ways of subsisting. 
To assert to Three Gods were insufferable blasphemy. Though 
Josiah Coal is guilty of as great blasphemy in a letter to George 
Fox, which, as it came from a Quaker, was also approved of by 
Penn himself in his answer to Mr. John Faldo, a minister I late- 
ly saw in London." 

Said Mr. Spence : 

"Our Proprietary was unable to protect his charter 
against the claims of Mr. Penn : we have no fear that 
Mr. Makemie will be as easily dislodged from his 
strongholds of faith by Mr. Penn's loose theology." 

My father continued to read the close argument 
showing that the term '' three " cannot apply to three 
essences, or three parts of the same essence, or three 
qualities or accidents, or three names. He proceeds : 

" So that it must be three distinct manners, methods or ways 
of subsisting, and is termed in the Schools, Ens, or Modus Eiitis. 
And according to the unanimous opinion of our Reforming and 
Reformed Divines, a Person in the Godhead is whole God, not 
absolutely or simply considered, but by way of some personal 
properties or a manner of being or distinct subsistence having 



282 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1697. 

the whole Godhead in it. Usher and Calvin call a Divine Per- 
son a subsistence in the Divine nature, which having relation to 
others is distinguishable from them with incommunicable proper- 
ties ; so that, though the Father, Son and Holy Ghost be really 
and essentially the same in essence or being, yet they have 
something differing from one another. For if the Word, John i. i, 
had been simply and absolutely God without anything peculiar 
to itself, it had been improper and amiss to have said it was not 
only God but with God. To which doctrine Tertullian agrees, 
saying there is in God a certain disposition or distribution which 
changeth nothing of the unity of the essence. I need not heap 
up the manifold testimonies both of Old and New Testament, 
asserting Three in One and One in Three ; and if any quarrel 
the word ' person,' they shall find this plain Scripture, Hebrews 
i. 3, speaking of Christ the Second Person of the Trinity, saith, 
he • is the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his 
person.' " 

" Our minister is strong in doctrine/' said Major 
King. " He feeds us on substantial food." 

I must own that my mind had sometimes failed to 
follow the writer, but it was not so with these sturdy- 
colonists. There are those among us who are ready 
to grapple with the gospel's deeper truths, and who 
can appreciate the triumphs of sound doctrine. In 
these minds Mr. Makemie is building. 

When my father laid down the book, our friend from 
St. Martin's said : 

"Our pioneer is no less practical in his teaching. 
With him creed and conduct go together. He thinks 
of the physical system as well as the mind. I have 
heard him say : 

" ' In respect to our bodies, the advantages of holy living are 
very conspicuous ; for is it not by breaking God's Rule of Life we 
owe all our intemperance and riotous excess, we owe our diseases, 
pains, aches, decay of strength, and all other that befall our bodies 
here ? when by regular living we should prevent many calamities 
that befall our mortal bodies even in this life and ofttimes would 



A. D. 1697.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 283 

prolong our days and not be guilty of a lingering and gradual 
suicide which many debauched persons really have had a hand 
in. And I have with concern observed, since I came to America 
in 1683, most of the untimely deaths that have happened within 
the compass of my knowledge, were occasioned by excessive 
irregularities, of Sabbath-breaking, drunkenness &c.'"* 

" It is a grand thing," said Mr. Venable, " to have in 
these days a brave, pure ministry whose lives, as well 
as whose lips, are faithful in their rebukes of sin." 

The evil effects of the prevalent intemperance, 
lamented by Mr. Makemie, have had an illustration 
this year in the person of one of Major King's fellow- 
justices. Since Squire Layfield became a widower, 
there have been rumors of his interest in a niece of 
Colonel Stevens, whose widow he first married. Pris- 
cilla White and her sisters, Tabitha and Sarah, were 
favorites of the lieutenant deputy, and in his will their 
uncle left them a thousand pounds of tobacco apiece 
to buy a service of silver plate. Now both Priscilla's 
silver and herself are to adorn the table of the squire. 
On the 15th of October the climax came. The Rev. 
James Brechin and our Snow Hill minister were at the 
house of Mr. Layfield, with a considerable company 
besides. Jamaica rum had flowed too freely, and the 
host himself, according to the testimony of Mr. 
Brechin, had been ** overtaken in drink." I will let 
Mr. Brechin describe the anomalous wedding in his 
own words: 

" Esq. Layfield said, ' Here are two ministers ; why cannot I 
be married ?' Mr. Davis* reply was that he was going to the 
new country, to wit, to Jersey, and if Esq. Layfield would ac- 
company him to Hoarkil (Lewes) he would marry them. But 
Mr. Dennis, master of a vessel, who is a Quaker, said to Mr. 

* New York sermon. 



284 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1697. 

Davis, ' If you will give the Esquire, I will give Mrs. Priscilla.' 
So they joined their hands — I desiring them to be cautious and 
considerate in their proceedings. Esq. Layfield said, ' I take Pris- 
cilla White to be my lawful wife in the presence of God and this 
company and will be loving and faithful to you.' And she said 
she took him to be her lawful husband. Mr. Davis said either, 
' Whom God join,' or ' I join,' • let no man put asunder.' Mr. 
Davis said ' Amen.' John Starret said, ' Cursed be him that 
puts them asunder.' I said according to my judgment this mar- 
riage was authentic and would stand by virtue of law, a Quaker 
having said the ceremony and being confirmed by Mr, Davis 
saying. Amen ; and all the rest did affirm that it was lawful. 
Esq. Layfield did demand a certificate to testify his being thus 
married. Mr. Stanfield did write a certificate declaring them to 
be lawfully married. I said it was convenient that they relate 
the particular occurrences. They desired me to write it. I wrote 
the several instances that George Layfield Esq. said that he took 
Priscilla White to be his lawful wife in the presence of God &c. ; 
and Mrs. Priscilla White in like manner ; and that Mr. Dennis 
passed the ceremony and that they all declared them lawfully 
married. Unto which they all subscribed and they desiring me 
to subscribe, I wrote these words, ' I do witness the above.' All 
this I attest, without aggravating any one's doings or saying, and 
not estimating what I myself said" (57). 

This wedding has caused no little excitement. Many- 
declare it illegal, and there is talk of prosecution. I 
am sorry that Mr. Davis was there or had anything 
to do with it. Were I in Priscilla's place, I should 
be miserable. 

Meanwhile, there were two other souls who were de- 
termined that no such legal cloud should overshadow 
their mating. " The little wigwam in the pines " is all 
in order, the honeysuckles are expecting to bloom in 
the spring, and my friend William is in a hurry. He 
has been to Dividing Creek and searched the records 
for precedents. On the first page after the organiza- 
tion of the county in 1666 he found a penalty imposed 
because of bonds of matrimony not published by set- 



A. D. 1697.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 285 

ting up the names at the court-house door according 
to Act of Assembly. Two months afterward, Novem- 
ber 27, he found a record of " bonds of matrimony 
pubHshed between Cornelius Ward and Margaret 
Frankling both of Annamessex." He traced farther, 
and learned that these two were married by Henry 
Boston, Justice, in January of the following year. 
Therefore there must be the setting up of names at 
the court-house door and a legal ceremony afterward. 
He knew that Mr. Trail and Mr. Davis had married 
couples thirteen years ago, and that these marriages 
were recognized as no less valid than those by the 
county judges. It was very embarrassing to think of 
our names nailed up there together at Dividing Creek, 
the most public place in the county. 

When the November days grew dreamy and the air 
was full of poetry, hastening the time a little because 
our minister was soon to start upon another mission to 
the West Indies, we stood together before Mr. Make- 
mie and followed his solemn words with our solemn 
vows. While all Britain was rejoicing in the establish- 
ment of peace by the Treaty of Ryswick, and poor 
James and his Jacobites, the Quakers and High 
Churchmen and Papists, were mourning over the 
acknowledgment by France of King William's title 
to the English throne, here, upon the banks of our 
gladsome river, there was rejoicing in two happier 
hearts in the settlement of my own King William and 
his loving queen in the little wigwam in the pines. 

Says our friend Matchacoopah, 

" Wee-tah-tomps " {" the dove ") " of England has 
cooed to his nest the Water-Lily of the Pocomoke." 

Mr. Makemie's parting benediction lingered about 



286 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE, [A. D. 1697. 

our doors while his sloop spread her wings and flew 
away to the southward. The winter finds him in the 
land of everlasting summer. Naomi must spend the 
Christmas holidays alone, but she is growing used to 
these frequent absences of her husband. He is in the 
Barbadoes, the island of which Columbus wrote two 
hundred years ago so enthusiastically to his sover- 
eigns : 

" It seems to me as if I could never quit a spot so delightful ; 
as if a thousand tongues would fail to describe it ; as if the 
spell-bound hand would refuse to write." 

Early in this century the ubiquitous Captain Smith 
gives the following account of the island : 

" The first planters brought hither by Captain Henry Powell 
were forty English, with seven or eight negroes. Then he went 
to Disacaba in the maine where he got thirty Indians, men, women 
and children, of the Arawacas, enemies both to the Carabes and 
the Spaniards. The Isle is most like a triangle, each side forty 
or fifty miles square." 

The description that follows of its fertility and lux- 
urious fruits and vegetation is as characteristic of the 
first American author as of Barbadoes itself. 

Since Smith wrote, the island has seen many changes, 
rising rapidly to wealth, and then used by Cromwell 
as a place of banishment for the adherents of the 
Stuarts. The Church of England has always been 
established by law, and the stocks put up by the 
wardens in every churchyard are very suggestive. 
The vestries and clergy are often at loggerheads, the 
latter frequently having a hard time of it. One of the 
latter, the Rev. Mr. Godwyn, formerly of Virginia, 
speaks of " the arbitrary talons of vestries, made up 
for the most part of sordid plebeians, the very dregs 



A. D. 1697.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 287 

of the English nation, with whom to be truly consci- 
entious is the very hight of madness and folly." Fines 
and penalties being their chief gospel incentives, of 
course there is but a low ebb of piety among them. 
Some good has been done by the Quakers, Fox, 
Edmundson and others, visiting the island and preach- 
ing zealously to the negroes. During the latter years 
no little trouble has arisen from conspiracies among 
the slaves. There has always been much wickedness 
in beautiful Barbadoes.* 

In August, 1 678, Captain Archibald Johnson applied 
to the Presbytery of Laggan for a Presbyterian minis- 
ter for Barbadoes. Mr. Makemie was at this time a 
student in the University of Glasgow. But the re- 
quest remained upon the hearts of the Presbytery, 
and was finally to bear fruit. As bold a navigator 
as Columbus, as knightly an explorer as Smith, our 
Christian pioneer soon sought out the hungering 
Presbyterians there and broke to them the bread of 
life. He found our Church utterly misrepresented 
and our principles misunderstood, and he has been 
at every visit telling the truth in faithfulness. While 
preaching there, it is like standing in the gate of 
the continent, for hundreds and thousands of the 
traders and emigrants from Europe touch by that 
colony on their way to the main. Defending his 
own faith bravely, he pleads for moderation and char- 
ity between the Protestant churches. This Christmas, 
to those in ecclesiastical authority he is saying : 

" Let me humbly and earnestly, with all submission, address 
the Conformable clergy in this island, to instruct their people 
that they and we profess the same Christian and Protestant re- 

* For account of Barbadoes, see Anderson's Colonial Church^ 



288 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1697. 

ligion, only with some alterations in external ceremonies and 
circumstances ; that we may unite in affection and strength 
against the common enemy of our Reformation and concur in 
the great work of the Gospel for the manifestation of God's 
glory and the conviction, conversion and salvation of souls in 
this island, instructing such as are ignorant in the principal and 
great things of religion, promoting virtue and true holiness, and 
reproving all atheism, irreligion and profanity, seahng and con- 
firming all by an universal copy, pattern and example of a holy 
and ministerial life and conversation." 

These are noble words — a handsome challenge. 
Thus he holds out his hands to the Church of Eng- 
land and proffers hearty co-operation in advancing all 
that is best in religion. In addressing the municipal 
officers he is no less faithful and brave : 

" I have often done it, and I continue to pray for the zealous 
concurrence of the secular power and civil magistrates, to whom 
the sword of justice is committed for the terror of evil doers and 
praise of them that do well, that for promoting visible reforma- 
tion in this island from the evils that have long exposed us to 
the heavy judgments of a Righteous God, Xhey would Jirst re- 
form their own lives and impartially execute those good laws, 
according to their oaths, against all blaspheming, cursing, swear- 
ing, Sabbath-breaking, all profanity, impiety and irreligion, that 
our land may be exalted by righteousness and sin may no longer 
be our reproach." 

Thus, on the 28th of December, sitting, perhaps, 
under a palmetto at the capital-town of Jamestown, 
or at Bridgetown, or at the Spring, or at the Thickets, 
or at Pumpkin Hill, or perhaps enjoying the soft sea- 
breeze beneath a cedar on the Hacklestone Cliff, look- 
ing out over the district called " Scotland," which bor- 
ders the coast, or feasting his eyes upon the lovely 
tropical valley which lies just in front, — there he 
signs his name to a strong defence of Presbyterian 
polity and doctrine, and sends it forth to the world 
under the name Truths in a Tnie Light (58). 



CHAPTER XIX. 
A. D. 1698. 

" You have not tasted of the saving fruits of Christ's Death and 
Redemption if the holy effects and blessings thereof are not visible in 
your Lives and Practice." — Makemie. 

IT was during one of those soft, grateful February 
weeks that sometimes come to our Eastern Shore 
with prophecies of spring and summer-time, the airs 
of the tropics breathing over into the temperate zone, 
when Maryland puts away her thin covering of ice 
and thinks of flowers. With the young housekeep- 
ers, the pleasure is increased by the presence of our 
minister and his Naomi. She has brought me from 
her husband's store a new plush saddle, a present 
from her father. I shall go to Rehoboth in state 
to-morrow upon my Chingoteague pony. 

The preparation of that dinner was an event in the 
history of our " little wigwam in the pines " — our villa 
ad pimim, as the learned would say. My mother is 
no longer in superintendence, and I am left to my own 
resources, but the pig — a product of a new importation 
— browned nicely, the musk-rat was young and tender, 
the apple-dumplings softened daintily, the pone mel- 
lowed lusciously, and the boiled cider was in its prime. 
Naomi came into my plain kitchen and helped to 
brighten the pewter dishes, and praised all she saw. 
Mr. Makemie commended the dinner above all the 

19 289 



290 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1698. 

luxuries he had seen in Barbadoes, and I think that 
my William was prouder than his great namesake in 
the palace at Kensington. 

It delights me to see my husband admiring our 
minister so enthusiastically. I feared lest, won to 
Christ by the godly Baxter, he might never love 
another preacher so well. Mr. Makemie tells of his 
defence of our Church polity and doctrines against 
the misrepresentations made by the Episcopalians in 
the Southern isle. William always enjoys these ac- 
counts of the minister's missionary expeditions. Mr. 
Makemie shows great interest in both the religious 
and the temporal prosperity of my husband. Himself 
successful in business affairs, whether as a merchant, a 
marine trader or a trader in land, his testimony with 
regard to the value of Christianity in these practical 
matters comes with greater weight. Seeing us just 
beginning life together, and entering heartily into all 
our hopes, he spoke to us words, as we sat that night 
around the fireplace of blazing pine-knots, that I well 
remember : 

"God, the Eternal and only wise Lawgiver, has framed a Law 
every way quadrate and suited to advance our secular interest. 
If all the wits in the world had been combined in one counsel to 
consult and carve out a rule of obedience, leveled directly to pro- 
mote our advantage, they could not have fallen upon a more ad- 
vantageous rule of obedience than what God has prescribed to 
us. In keeping the Divine precepts there is great reward ; god- 
liness being profitable unto all things, having the promise of the 
life that now is, and that which is to come." 

I expected that Mr. Makemie, according to his 
wont, would enter into the particulars of his theme, 
and we were very attentive while he continued: 

*' How expensive a darling sin and vice has proved to many 



A. D. 1698.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 29 1 

families and particular persons who have been brought by irregu- 
lar and riotous living to want and poverty ! And that by sundry 
ways and means. First, By neglecting our affairs, our lawful 
concerns must suffer. Second, Irregular living consumes that 
time we should spend about better things. Third, It justly draws 
the indignation of heaven upon all our concerns and ofttimes 
creates a moth in our estates ; all which a religious life might 
effectually prevent. Fourth, It would highly conduce to the 
preserving and maintaining the credit of our reputation and 
good name; for it is justly sin and disobedience which blasts 
our names and stains our reputations and sticks so close that it 
oft reaches to posterity, who are infamous from the disorderly 
and scandalous lives of vicious ancestors." * 

While Mr. Makemie was speaking, I was wonder- 
ing what would be the honor or dishonor two hundred 
years hence of the families planted around us. Whose 
children would continue to rise to worth and position, 
borne forward by the character and the prayers of 
godly forefathers ? Whose would degenerate and de- 
scend, blighted by the inherited iniquity of to-day ? 

While God's faithful servants are thus proclaiming 
the will of the Lord in the pulpit and from house to 
house, our Assembly is still tinkering upon the Es- 
tablishment. Another act is passed, empowering ves- 
trymen to assess and collect taxes for repairing and 
finishing churches. The adherents of Prelacy vol- 
unteer no contributions to complete these buildings, 
but deliberately await the execution of compulsory 
measures to wring the means out of the hands of 
others. Now they are trying to enforce a law un- 
questionably invalid. 

My husband, remembering the sufferings of Mr. 
Baxter and others, and believing that there are those 
among us who would treat Mr. Davis and Mr. Make- 

*New York sermon. 



292 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1698. 

mie just as cruelly if they had the power, becomes 
very indignant sometimes, and I have been afraid that 
he may express himself to Mr. Hewett in a way that 
would not be pleasant. There are others of us, too, 
who feel that the very names of Charles and James 
Stuart ought to be repulsive to all lovers of freedom 
and of purity, and we have but little patience with 
either the High Churchism or the Quakerism that 
would put the wicked dynasty back upon the throne. 
Therefore, too, we regret to learn of the marriage, 
in January, of Benedict Leonard, heir of Lord Balti- 
more, to the granddaughter of the infamous Barbara 
Palmer, Duchess of Cleveland, the favorite of Charles 
II. The royal blood in the veins of the bride is vi- 
cious blood, and we want nothing upon Maryland soil 
which will give respectability to the baseness of that 
court. When we think of such a Lady-Proprietress 
leading colonial society, we cannot very sincerely 
mourn the displacement of the Baltimores.* 

In our own social world there has been no little 
agitation over the marriage mentioned last year. 
Squire Layfield, prominent before, has come into a 
less enviable prominence through that unfortunate 
step. To those of us who revere the memory of 
Judge Stevens, it is sad to witness the distress brought 
upon those he loved, and in the house of an associate 
on the bench who married both his widow and his 
niece. Can we recognize the family any longer? 

The Quakers defend the family, for their Captain 
Dennis took part in the ceremony and pronounced 
it valid. Some of the Presbyterians also stand by 

■5^ She went in the ways of her grandpai*ents, and was divorced in 
1 7 10. See NeilTs Terra Marine, p, 232. 



A. D. 1698.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 293 

the Layfields because Mr. Davis had a part in the 
wedding, although he was doubtful of the legality 
of the marriage and preferred that they accompany 
him to another province. There are those that de- 
nounce as well as those that defend. 

The law is relentless. At the court-house at Divid- 
ing Creek, where he has often sat as judge himself, 
Squire Layfield and Priscilla are compelled to appear 
for trial. There is great excitement. A week's north- 
easter could not cause wilder confusion among the 
pines when they bend and creak and groan before its 
fury. A judge of the county is himself to be judged ! 
The hill and the pasture are filled with horses of the 
gentry. The higher classes are intensely moved. I 
think of the honored grave of Stevens, and I wish 
that Priscilla's husband had not been " overtaken in 
drink." Not Indians alone suffer from the poison of 
the fire-waters. 

The verdict is rendered: " Guilty!" Upon each of 
them is imposed a fine of twenty shillings sterling, or 
four hundred pounds of tobacco. Again the tem- 
pest rages about the hill and up and down the Poco- 
moke and out over the Somerset fields. I fervently 
thanked God for the untarnished honor resting over 
the love and happiness of our little wigwam in the 
pines. 

If the people would profit by Mr. Makemie's faith- 
ful instructions, there would be but little need of 
court-houses. No Quaker can say that this picture 
of true Christianity is not practical : 

" We must lay aside the disorders and irregularities of our 
lives. The profane curser and swearer must lay aside his hor- 
rid oaths and impious imprecations. The beastly and sensual 



294 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1698. 

drunkard must abstain from his intemperate cups and compan- 
ions. The backbiter must forsake his raihngs and defamation. 
The har must learn to speak truth to his neighbor. The thief 
and purloiner must grow honest. The profaner of the Day of 
the Lord must learn to spend it more religiously. And the prof- 
ligate scoffer at the creatures of God, the people and followers of 
God, the way and worship and religion of God, must lay aside 
this base abuse of their tongues. These evils and many more — 
as pride, covetousness, carnality and worldliness — must be purged 
out of our lives."* 

In the customs of the people around us, there is 
much in high and low to justify these plain reproofs 
of sin. It is a great blessing to have a minister brave 
enough to expose both errors in doctrine and errors in 
morals. 

This year the Synod of Ireland has enacted the 
rule of the Church of Scotland that no young man 
be licensed to preach the gospel unless " he sub- 
scribes the Confession of Faith in all the articles 
thereof." t 

Our Assembly has just made an appropriation for 
building houses of entertainment for poor impotent 
folk at the Cool Springs, in St. Mary's county. These 
" fountains of healing waters," as they are called, are 
held in high repute, and the people resort thither 
from all parts of the province to enjoy their famous 
virtues. To extend the benefits to the diseased poor 
as well as to the rich is regarded as a notable charity.J 
In the staunch orthodox ministrations of Mr. Make- 
mie, we feel that Somerset possesses a fountain of 
healing waters for " impotent folk " of far greater effi- 
cacy than all the springs of St. Mary's. 

Another Quaker apostle is heard in our county this 

*New York sermon. •)- Reid, ii. 495. 

J Colonial records, 1698. 



A. D. 1698.] THE DA YS OF MA REM IE. 295 

season, proclaiming the gospel of the Inner Light. 
Thomas Chalkley sails over from the Western Shore 
with Thomas Evernden — perhaps in the very sloop by 
which the owner had profaned the Sabbath in building, 
and which desecration Mr. Makemie had severely re- 
buked. Crowds follow this evangelist from point to 
point over the county — from the western borders to 
George Truitt's, beyond Snow Hill. He seems much 
interested in the Indian town up the river.* 

While this new enthusiast visits our county, but is 
careful not to follow the steps of George Keith to the 
house of Mr. Makemie, a Presbyterian minister settles 
in Philadelphia. Rev. Benjamin Woodbridge, Con- 
gregational, of New England, had preceded him a 
while this year, but soon returned North. A Bap- 
tist preacher named Watts has also been officiating 
for some while in the Barbadoes Store in that town, 
with a congregation of nine of his own faith and 
a few other Dissenters, English and Welsh and 
Huguenots. Some of these are Independents, and 
some are Presbyterians. 

This store stands at the corner of Second and 
Chestnut streets, belongs to the Barbadoes Com- 
mercial Company, and was used by Keith and his 
party as their place of worship during Mr. Makemie's 
visit to Philadelphia six years ago. 

The Episcopal clergyman Clayton has tried in vain 
to win the Baptist minister and his heterogeneous 
flock over to the Church of England. 

This summer we are glad to hear that a young 
preacher — Mr. Jedediah Andrews — has come to Phil- 
adelphia from New England. Our pioneer has long 

*Chalkley's journal p. 29, etc. 



296 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1698. 

known the advantages of a station for our Church 
there. 

Mr. Andrews is a native American twenty-six years 
old, having been born at Hingham, Massachusetts, in 
1674, while Mr. Makemie was preparing for the uni- 
versity. Mr.- Andrews graduated at Harvard College, 
near Boston, three years ago. Among our little con- 
stellation of ministers in this part of the continent, he 
is the first that has been born and educated on this 
side of the ocean. Propositions for some kind of a 
union have been made to him by the Baptists, and 
correspondence to this end has been begun this fall 
with him and six of his friends — John Green, David 
Giffing, John Van Lear, Samuel Richards, Herbert 
Corry and Daniel Green. The attempt seems to fail, 
and the Baptists charge the failure upon Mr. Andrews. 
This looks as if the young man were disposed to stand 
firmly and bravely for the truth as represented by him- 
self and his few supporters. Acquaintance with Mr. 
Makemie will not fail to confirm his orthodoxy.* 

We must note a change of governors at Annapolis 
— Nicholson transferred to Virginia, and Blackiston 
appointed his successor. Nicholson's zeal for the 
Church is having its comment in the accusations by 
Clarke and Sly of sad licentiousness in his past his- 
tory. These charges have kept his violent temper in 
a ferment and provoked most vindictive efforts to 
crush his accusers. Coode too has been a constant 
thorn in the side of this patron of the Church and 
kept him long at bay.f Nor have the zealous Epis- 
copal governor and the zealous Commissary Bray 

* Hodge, p. 69; Gillett, p. 20; Webster, p. 312. 
f McMahon, p. 263. 



A. D. 1698.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 29/ 

been able to prosecute their Establishment schemes in 
harmony.* Vain, passionate, of questionable morals, 
the persistence with which he has pushed forward the 
aggrandizement of Prelacy has covered a multitude of 
sins in the esteem of many and drawn upon him the 
fulsome flatteries of the Assembly to the end. 
Of our capital an eye-witness writes : 

" There are several places for towns, but hitherto they are only- 
titular ones, except Annapolis where the Governor resides. Col. 
Nicholson has done his endeavor to make a town of that place. 
There are about forty dwelling-houses in it; seven or eight 
of which can afford a good lodging and accommodations for 
strangers. There are also a State-house and a free-school, built 
of brick, which make a great show among a parcel of wooden 
houses. And the foundation of a church is laid, the only brick 
church in Maryland. They have two market days in a week, 
and, had Gov. Nicholson continued there a few months longer, 
he had brought it to perfection."! 

There rests that brick foundation, waiting upon bad 
laws and good tobacco-crops. 

/'The Assembly has just shown greater justice by the 
following enactment in behalf of the native tribes of 
the Eastern Shore: 

" It being most just that the Indians, the ancient inhabitants 
of this province, should have a convenient dwelling place in 
this their native country, free from the encroachments and op- 
pression of the English ; more especially the Nanticoke Indians 
in Dorchester county, who, for these many years, have lived in 
peace and concord with the English and in all matters in obedi- 
ence to the government of this province ; Be it enacted that all 
the land lying and being in Dorchester county and on the North 
side of the Nanticoke river, butted and bounded as follows [de- 
scription, containing about fifty square miles] , shall be confirmed 
and assured and, by virtue of this act, is confirmed and assured 

* Meade's Old Churches, etc., p. 158. 
f British Empire in America, i. 333. 



298 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1698. 

unto Panquash and Annotoughquan and the people under their 
government or charge and their heirs and successors for ever." 

Says Matchacoopah, 

" When seequino " (** the spring "), " mashaqtiapaiiii " 
("the summer"), ''weesawpanu'' ("the autumn") and 
poopponu'' (" the winter") " shall have come for muitah- 
tashakipana nuquotacukquomai'' ("a thousand years "), 
" will the white man's law still say for ever f " 

Alas ! the red man and the white aHke have learned 
the desolations of Time. The lofty and the lowly 
must fade and pass away. The quioccason house 
and the marble tomb both crumble into dust. 

The home of wealth which we loved so well to visit, 
down on the little creek in Accomack, standing there 
in sight of the sparkling strand, has been under the 
shadow of the great destroyer. With the early fall- 
ing of the leaf, our friend William Anderson passed 
away, and Naomi and Comfort are orphans. There 
are no public graveyards, and they laid him to rest on 
his favorite plantation. Among the large concourse 
who stood around his bier that day, we saw his rela- 
tives the Parkers, the Hopes, the Scotts, the Barons, 
the Fookses, and his valued friend Mr. Edmund Cus- 
tis. Standing nearer still, in deeper grief, are the 
home-group — the widow, and Mr. and Mrs. Makemie, 
and Mr. and Mrs. Taylor with their three daughters, 
Elizabeth, Naomi and Comfort. 

Mr. Makemie, who has so often spoken words of 
comfort to the bereaved, is now himself numbered 
with the mourners. He and the deceased were 
warmly attached. Closely associated in business and 
for some time occupying the same house, no one 
understood and admired the character of our pioneer 



A. D. 1698.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 299 

more than did Mr. Anderson. His habit has been 
to call our minister " Son Makemie," and so he is 
termed in the will. 

As far back as the 23d of July, already weak in 
body, the long and careful will was made.* " My 
soul," he says, " I commend to my Creator, trusting, 
through ye merits of my blessed Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ, to enjoy eternal life." 

We were naturally desirous to hear the bequests, 
and, as expected, they show plainly that his heart was 
to the last inclining to Naomi and her husband. She 
was his first-born, and she and ** Son Makemie " are 
the chosen and favorite representatives of the Ander- 
son name and honor. 

To the widow Mary Anderson he gives a life-right 
in the Occocomson plantation, over on the seaside, 
near Wallops, if she continue single and will live 
thereon. At death, or one year after marriage, the 
land reverts to any second son of Comfort Taylor, if 
such there be ; if none such be born, it is to be divided 
among the three daughters. If she will not remove 
from the Pocomoke plantation, she is to have the old 
room and her own room, with the chambers and the 
cellar belonging to it ; also the use, in common 
with the Makemies, of the horse-mill, the well, the 
copper, still and oven ; also of certain pastures and 
orchards and one-third of " the keeping-apples." If 
she marries, nothing is left her except a life-title to 
the land where Gabriel Waters lives. In confining 
his principal bequests to her widowhood, Mr. An- 
derson knows that no one would marry so old a 
woman except for her property. He himself became 

* Probated October 4. 



300 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1698. 

possessed of a large part of his property by marrying 
the widow of another man. 

To his daughter Comfort Taylor there had already 
been a deed of gift of lands at Sikes's Island, and he 
now gives other lands adjacent. Her children are to 
hold the reversion of the rest of his lands should the 
Makemies die without issue. 

To his nephew and godson Anderson Parker he 
gives the four hundred acres at Pungoteague; in re- 
mainder to Thomas Parker ; in remainder to Matthew 
Parker. To his nephew William, son of George and 
Temperance Hope, he gives two hundred and fifty 
acres at the forked neck at the head of Pitts's Creek, 
being one-half of the tract called " Fooks's Choice." 
Thus he endows those who are to help in perpetuating 
his name. , There are legacies to his four sisters, Mrs. 
Barons, Mrs. Temperance Hope, Mrs. Nock and Mrs. 
Comfort Scott. 

Mr. Anderson seems to have had consideration for 
widows. " It is my will and desire," he says, " that all 
widows, Widow Lucas only excepted, who are directly 
indebted to me, be wholly discharged from said debts." 

To appraise and divide the estate and serve as refer- 
ees in case of differences, he appoints Mr. Edmund 
Custis, giving him his horse Captain Sorrel and three 
pounds to buy himself a beaver; Edward Moore, giv- 
ing him his silver-headed cane and five pounds ; the 
testators' brother, George Hope, giving him his plush 
saddle and best bridle and five pounds; and Thomas 
Perry, giving him his horse Murry, a good bridle and 
saddle and the choice from his wardrobe of a complete 
suit of apparel, including vest, coat, breeches, shirt, 
hat and stockings. 



A. D. 1698.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE, 3OI 

Mr. Anderson shows his appreciation of the culture 
so difficult to secure in these provinces by leaving 
fifty pounds for the education of his three grand- 
daughters. 

The bulk of the property goes to the Makemies; 
and, while it is expressly required that all devises 
made to the Taylors are to be held by his daughter 
Comfort independently and beyond the control of her 
husband, Mr. Elias Taylor giving bond to this effect, 
there is no such slighting of " Son Makemie." 

Naomi is to have whatever she may claim as hers 
in the house and on the premises without let or delay ; 
also the negro slaves Dollar, Hannah the elder, Dark- 
ish and young Sarah, and a third of the other person- 
al property remaining after all debts are paid. To Mr. 
Makemie he gives the money loaned him, together 
with the sloop and its furniture ; also the three lots at 
Onancock, all in his own right. To him and wife he 
gives the thousand acres bordering on the Matchatank, 
opposite our minister's own lands. But — the most 
valued of all the estate — to them he bequeaths his 
home-plantation, of nine hundred and fifty acres, on the 
Pocomoke Strand. Here, on its western border, he 
had lived for thirty years ; here his children had 
grown to womanhood and married ; here his ashes 
were to mingle with the Virginia soil (59) ; here 
" Son Makemie " had wooed the first-born ; and here 
for some time the two families had lived as one. The 
owner had been known as " William Anderson of Po- 
comoke;" here would be the graves of his descendants. 
The anxiety shown in his will that his lands shall not 
pass out of his family culminates upon his favorite 
plantation "at Pocomoke." 



302 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1698. 

There is in men a strong desire to identify their 
names and their memories with landed estates, and 
thus to hand them down together to an endless pos- 
terity. With no son of his own to perpetuate the 
name, and with Comfort Taylor's little boy gone to 
the grave, Mr. Anderson provides that Occocomson 
shall revert to a possible second grandson. In default 
of such male heir, it goes to the granddaughters, each 
authorized to sell her part to the other, but not out- 
side of the Anderson blood. The same care is taken 
to keep other lands in the line of descent. But the 
chief interest centres upon the Pocomoke plantation. 

If Naomi becomes the mother of more than one 
child, " the most worthy of blood " is to have Poco- 
moke, the next to have Matchatank. If she die child- 
less, his present three granddaughters are to have Po- 
comoke as coheirs, 

" giving them liberty to sell each of the parts of the value to 
each other, the price of the whole being valued by any three or 
four honest neighbors who may be made choice of for that pur- 
pose, to prevent either inconvenience in living so near each other 
or other differences that may happen by unequaling in the value ; 
but not any one to have any power or authority to sell, lease, let, 
or by any ways or means to dispose of any part thereof out of 
the family that hath proceeded or may proceed from my loins." 

How anxious he is that his homestead shall con- 
tinue in good condition, just as he leaves it! 

" Said Makemies and the survivor of them, if my daughter 
Naomi have no issue, shall keep the Dwelling House in repair, 
and whatever other useful houses worth preserving thereon ; like- 
wise orchards ; neither remove or dispose of the horse-mill, still 
and copper, but them to remain and pass with the freehold to 
my heirs aforesaid." 

To his executors, Mr. and Mrs. Makemie, he en- 
trusts his funeral and grave : 



A. D. 1698.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 3O3 

" My body I submit to fall, hoping itt may have a Decent 
Christian Burrial at direction of my Executors hereafter 
named." 

The dying man does all he can to preserve his home 
and place of sepulture from the neglect and vandalism 
of strangers '* for ever." 

So lived and passed away William Anderson of 
Pocomoke; and Mr. Makemie is the heir of many 
broad acres and the guardian of his tomb. 

Czar Peter of the Russias has been traveling and 
studying upon the continent of Europe, and working 
with his own hands in the shipyards. We hear that 
this year he is in England, pursuing his plans for the 
elevation of his rude countrymen, occupying the house 
of John Evelyn, and disgusting the owner by leaving it 
as filthy as if a savage had dwelt there.* But the Czar 
means the uplifting of his people. The University of 
Oxford gives the half savage the honorary degree of 
D. C. L., and the world is likely to confer a higher 
title still. 

Along by these tributaries of the Chesapeake, in 
obscurity and untitled, is there not a prince in Israel 
laboring just as earnestly and effectually for the eleva- 
tion of the people and the planting of a spiritual king- 
dom, nobler and grander ? 

* Evelyn's Diary, p. 571. 



CHAPTER XX. 

A. D. 1699. 

"Let us value unity in doctrine and the greater and more weighty 
matters, preferring it before an exact and accurate uniformity in every 
punctilio of circumstance and ceremony; which no nation hath hither- 
to attained, the Church of England not excepted," — Makemie. 

UNDER the fanatical claim of divine inspiration 
by the Inner Light, the pretensions of the Qua- 
kers to infallibility have been just as positive and pre- 
sumptuous as those of Rome. And yet they them- 
selves have greatly changed, and have differed among 
themselves ! I transcribe two or three questions ad- 
dressed to them five years ago by Mr. Makemie: 

"What is the reason Quakers are so far metamorphosed or 
changed both in judgment or practice at this day from what they 
once were at their first rise in Europe? What is the reason 
Quakers, that look upon themselves as the only pure church in 
the world, have never yet adventured to publish a form of sound 
words according to the Apostle's language, containing a con- 
fession of their faith and principles unanimously agreed upon 
among themselves, as all other churches in the world have done ? 
Wherefore did they write and bark so much against all witness- 
ing to truth and conviction of falsehood in Judicatories by an 
oath as sinful and unlawful under the Gospel ; and now in 
Pennsylvania and Maryland seem only to quarrel the manner 
and way of swearing on the book according to the English form 
and are willing to swear now in Judicatories with lifted-up hands, 
which many look upon to be more solemn than the former? 
Whether two men differing in a fundamental truth, absolutely 
necessary to salvation, can be guided by the same infallible 
Spirit ?" ' 

304 



A. D. 1699.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 305 

These were included among " several mixed Queries 
to be resolved by Quakers for the justification of them- 
selves and satisfaction of others." Instead of answer- 
ing them, the great Quaker champion to whom they 
were first addressed has himself changed front and 
deserted to the Episcopalians. Born a Presbyterian, 
George Keith left the safe middle-ground between 
Ritualism and anti-Ritualism and went over to the 
extreme wing in the rejection of all forms and sacra- 
ments. Now the pendulum oscillates, and he is just 
as violent for uniformity and sacramentarianism. 

This year, through the influence of Dr. Bray, the 
Maryland commissary, there has been organized in 
England ''The Society for Promoting Christian Knowl- 
edge," intended to assist in supporting missionaries and 
in supplying libraries for the poorer clergy both a-t 
home and abroad. The first book chosen by this 
society for circulation is a Catechism, lately published 
by Keith, containing an enthusiastic exposition of the 
teachings of the Anglican Church. A metamorphosis 
indeed ! He left America in 1694, and on his arrival 
in London found himself there condemned by the 
Yearly Meeting of the Friends — no longer friends^ as 
Mr. Makemie intimates. After a while he gravitated 
toward Prelacy, and finally became as zealous in its 
defence as once he was zealous against it* Such is 
human nature, notwithstanding all its former preten- 
sions to the miraculous apostolic call and mission. 
Once he thus taunted Mr. Makemie. 

" Nor doth he in the least declare that he receiveth any one of 
these things, delivered by him in his said Catechism, from any 
inward opening or discovery of God's Spirit in his heart. With- 

* Anderson's Colonial Church, iii. 369, 
20 



306 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1699. 

out breach of charity I can freely say he is a great stranger to 
the inward deahngs and workings of God's Holy Spirit in the 
hearts of his people." 

What now becomes of the paraded " Inner Light," 
and of " the call immediate, extraordinary and apos- 
tolic, of which," said Mr. Makemie, " Keith in a vain 
manner publicly and privately has boasted, and af- 
firmed the same at my house"? We remember our 
pastor saying five years ago, " Farewell, then, imme- 
diate mission !" 

We have always felt that the growing influence of 
our pioneer was sure, first or last, to bring upon him 
the dislike and the jealousy of the Established Church 
in Virginia. In her Eastern-Shore counties there has 
always been less intolerance than beyond the bay. 
The Presbyterians were but a handful, the Scotch 
and the Irish preferring to settle in our own county, 
where there was less danger of molestation. Our min- 
ister has always had strong personal friends among the 
Accomack Episcopalians. Such men as Andrew Ham- 
ilton, John Watts, Robert Pitts, John Parker, TuUy 
Robinson, and the many relatives of his father-in-law, 
have been a strong defence against bigotry. His 
principal preaching-places being in Maryland, there 
has been less to expose him to the ire of Virginia 
extremists. In Accomack he has gone on quietly, 
a valuable citizen, paying his tithes, preaching in no 
defiant manner, and holding all religious services in 
his own houses. The Toleration Act, in force for 
ten years in England, has never been put upon the 
Virginia statute-book. Here and there, as in the case 
of Mr. Mackie at Elizabeth River and of the Quakers 
at the house of Thomas Fookes at Onancock, Dis- 



A. D. 1699.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 307 

senters' meeting-houses have been recorded ; but the 
law has never been formally recognized by the Provin- 
cial Assembly, and there are those in Accomack who 
have not forgotten it. 

Mr. Makemie's eloquence and popular gifts have 
been attracting too much attention to please certain 
parties. His influence widens along the coast — known 
at Elizabeth River and holding property there ; also 
at Urbana, under the very shadow of Rosegill, the 
mansion of the Wormleys, where live the proud fami- 
ly in English state, and where the wine sparkles, the 
dance goes round, the fox-hounds bay, the racehorse 
neighs, and the great Church overlooks old Middlesex 
as if in assured proprietorship.* Coming now into 
possession of large landed estates at home, no one 
can tell to what height the influence of this dangerous 
Dissenter may tower. He holds the certificate of 
qualification in Barbadoes, according to English law, 
having taken the requisite oath under the Toleration 
Act, but they care nothing for the doctrinal purity of 
this law-abiding man while he remains a Nonconform- 
ist. There are those in whose eyes this is a crime. 
Well does Mr. Makemie retort : 

" What uniformity is between your Cathedral and Parochial 
worship? between such churches as have organs and those that 
want them ? between such as sing or chant the service and such 
as do not ? between such as read the whole service and others 
that mince it and read only a part ? between those that begin with 
a free prayer and such as do not ? And in the same congregations, 
what uniformity is between such as use responses and such as do 
not ? between such as bow to the East or the altar and such as do 
not ? between such as bow the knee and those that bow only the 
head at the name or word Jesus ? What uniformity between such 
as sing Psalms and most that do not ? I find many of the sons 

* Bishop Meade's Old Churches^ i. 369. 



308 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1699. 

of the Church break uniformity and canons as well as their 
neighbors. What Uniformity Act or Common Prayer allows 
any to begin with a prayer of their own, as the greatest and best 
have done, though others call it a Geneva trick? What Uni- 
formity Act enjoins organs and singing boys ? And where is 
bowing to the East and altar, with all other Church honors, 
commanded ? What warrants the use of the public form for 
private baptism ? Why is the burial service read over any Dis- 
senters, that are all excommunicated by your canons ?"* 

Only last year one of their own clergymen bore 
testimony : " No discipline nor canons of the Church 
are observed." And yet they would compel other 
churches to obey what they themselves disregard! 

Now comes the news that our minister has been 
arrested and carried across the bay to Williamsburg. 
There is indignation in all the regions round about 
Rehoboth. Once before has Virginia struck at Som- 
erset, and now she strikes more severely than when 
Scarborough and his forty horsemen made their fierce 
irruption upon the Monokin. What will they do with 
our pioneer? Shall the owner of the sunny Matcha- 
tank lands and the Pocomoke homestead be outlawed 
and banished as the Quakers have been before ? This 
outrage cannot make the thought of a Maryland 
Church Establishment more attractive. 

Soon follow the tidings of the brave defence, the 
conciliatory but firm plea for religious liberty accord- 
ing to the will of God and the magnanimity of King 
William. The governor and the Council are carried 
away by the eloquence of the advocate. Mr. Make- 
mie is released, and before the spring closes, on the 
15th of April, the Toleration Act is officially recog- 
nized as the law of Virginia (60). Our pastor returns 

* Truths in a True Li^ht. 



A. D. 1699.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 3O9 

in triumph, the Matchatank and the Pocomoke spark- 
Hng welcomes as he comes. 

During the year Mr. Makemie places beyond dis- 
pute his legal right to preach in his adopted province. 
On the 15th of October the following statement is put 
upon the court records of Accomack : 

" Whereas Mr. Francis Makemie made application by petition 
to this Court that, being ready to fulfill what the law enjoynes to 
Dissenters, that he might be qualified according to Law, and 
prayed that his own dwelling-house at Pocomoke, also his own 
house at Onancock, next to Captain Jonathan Livesley's, might 
be the places recorded for Meeting, and having taken the oaths 
enjoyned by Act of Parhament instead of the oaths of allegiance 
and supremacy, and subscribed the test, as likewise that he did 
in comphance with what the Law enjoynes, produce Certificate 
from Barbadoes of his qualifications there, did declare in open 
Court of the said county and owned the Articles of Religion 
mentioned in the statute made in the 13th year of Queen Eliza- 
beth, except the 34th, 35th and 36th, and those words for the 
20th Article, viz., — ' The Church hath power to decide rites and 
ceremonies, and authority in controversies of faith ;' which the 
Court have ordered to be registered and recorded ; and that the 
Clerk of the Court give certificate thereof to the said Makemie, 
according as the Law enjoynes" (61). 

Our own Assembly at Annapolis is still busy legis- 
lating about vestrymen, assessments, and building and 
repairing churches. They pause for a while to pass 
an act of gratitude to a Presbyterian elder, Colonel 
Ninian Beall, for his brave services upon " all incur- 
sions and disturbances of the neighboring Indians," 
voting him seventy-five pounds sterling to be paid for 
three serviceable negroes for himself, wife and chil- 
dren.* This is the man who testified that there was 
no foundation in the charges upon which the Associa- 
tors based the revolution. His integrity and his pub- 

^Neill's Terra Afaricc, p. 193. 



310 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1699. 

lie service now bring him deserved honor, while the 
active revolutionary partisans Coode and Cheseldyn 
are in disgrace. Another act is passed, to restrain 
the importation of Irish Papists, aping the spirit of 
the Parliament of England in the atrocious laws of 
imprisonment and confiscation which they have been 
passing against the Catholics and their children across 
the water. There being a scare along the coast and 
in the Chesapeake about the buccaneers, a law is 
passed for the punishment of pirates. But, more 
dreadful to our laborious statesmen than Popish or 
pirate scare, they see standing yonder in Annapolis 
the foundation of that Episcopal Church neglected and 
incomplete ; the godly Assembly fines the builder, 
Edward Dorsey, for breach of contract, and passes 
an order to bargain with other workmen for finish- 
ing the job. This ambitious abortion of a church is 
the type of many half-built structures throughout the 
colony. 

On Thursday, July 13, about four or five o'clock in 
the afternoon, while one of Maryland's heavy thunder- 
clouds is overhanging the little town, a bolt leaps forth 
and strikes the State-House, killing one of the bur- 
gesses and setting the building on fire.* In a few 
minutes the Capitol is a wreck. Ere the year ends, 
a shock no less sudden and violent strikes the friends 
of the Establishment, and, to exaggerate the chagrin, 
the thunderbolt is hurled through the hands of a 
Quaker. 

The Council of State in England has annulled the 
law for the Maryland Church Establishment on a 
technicality, and the Episcopalians are astounded 

"^Annals of Annapolis. 



A. D. 1699.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 3II 

and bewildered. The mortification is deepened by 
the order being sent over in charge of an agent of 
Mr. Penn, one of the proscribed and jubilant sect.* 
This looks like a deliberate insult to Prelacy. The 
Quakers and the Papists do not try to conceal their 
exultation. 

Suffering defeat after defeat, the Ottoman empire, 
which lately threatened Europe, has finally been crip- 
pled and humbled, and has just now been stripped of 
territory and greatness by the treaty of Carlovits. 
The pashas of the sultan in these surrendered prov- 
inces can feel but little worse to-day than do the 
rectors and the missionaries of the Episcopal Church 
in Maryland, left again without legal status and with- 
out state support. 

The Assembly must try its hand at Erastian states- 
manship once more, assisted by a strong helper. In 
the same ship which brought over the ill-omened Qua- 
ker came also the zealous Commissary Bray — Ritual- 
ism and Mysticism in a race for the New World. If 
the one little craft could carry the two so widely 
diverse without sinking, surely our great Maryland 
should be able to bear us all without shipwreck. 
Rehoboth — "there is room." 

What complaints and sighs and pleas of grievous 
wrong and indignation on the part of these Church- 
men at their ill-treatment because they have again 
been delayed from preying upon us all for the com- 
pletion of their churches If One would suppose them 
to be innocent victims of the grossest injustice, a sadly 
persecuted people. 

Mr. Makemie loses none of his interest in Barba- 

^ Bishop Hawks's Maryland. f Ibid., p. 89. 



312 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1699. 

does. The sloop which visits the island for its tropi- 
cal products carries the gospel too. I have just been 
reading his TriitJis in a Time Light, the pastoral ad- 
dressed two years ago to those people, but not pub- 
lished until this year (58). In this little volume, after 
showing the folly of Protestants fighting one another, 
after drawing a broad line of distinction between the 
Laudian High-Church party and the truly evangelical 
Low Churchmen, after proving that the Church of 
England has fallen short of the purpose of her ear- 
lier Reformers and is in fact but half reformed, and 
that, in the British Isles and upon the Continent, the 
most thoroughly reformed are found among the Pres- 
byterians, — he states his purpose as follows in defence 
of the latter : 

" That you may more fully and distinctly know them and not 
suffer yourselves for the future to be imposed upon, I shall, as 
one of the meanest of them, show what at this day they believe 
and do ; or wherein they agree and are the same with the estab- 
lished church of England ; and, next, what they dissent from and 
neither will nor dare do without sin ; and all this only for your in- 
formation, without the least design or intention of raising any new 
debate or beginning any new controversy on those differences suf- 
ficiently controverted by many hands on both sides." 

These are timely subjects in our own latitudes as 
well as in Barbadoes. A thorough acquaintance with 
the history of the Reformation and with the earlier 
and later phases of doctrine and polity, and an intelli- 
gence that keeps him fully abreast of the questions of 
the day in Europe and America, prepare Mr. Make- 
mie, as shown in this pastoral, to meet all the demands 
of his responsible work and to guide his people success- 
fully. In an extended postscript to the main discussion 
he says : 



A. D. 1699-] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 313 

" Among the misrepresentations of the principles and practices 
of the Presbyterians in this Island, I cannot forbear taking notice 
of one, because it strikes very deep into the vitals of religion ; 'tis 
that the doctrine of Election and Reprobation as taught by the 
rigid Presbyterians of the Kirk of Scotland, is contrary to the 
Word of God and a great discouragement to piety." 

After placing himself emphatically upon the Scottish 
platform and reminding his readers that our Shorter 
Catechism is still learned and taught by many in 
the Church of England, and after stating the script- 
ural doctrine in the words of our Standards, he 
proceeds to show from the Thirty-nine Articles of 
the Church of England, the Lambeth Articles, the 
Articles of Ireland, the votes of the Anglican dele- 
gates to the Synod of Dort, the prayers of the 
Prayer-Book, the authorized Homilies and the tes- 
timony of Primate Usher and others that the Epis- 
copal Church holds the doctrine in just as staunch 
and rigid a form as our own. Then, with a touch 
of his native Irish humor, he says : 

" I am very unwilling to engage in a further controversy about 
this doctrine so fully handled and sufficiently vindicated already, 
lest I should engage some of your Island in a most unnatural 
war against their own Mother Church. And should it not be a 
paradox to Barbadoes to hear of a Presbyterian taking up the 
cudgels in defence of a fundamental established doctrine against 
a son, member and minister of the English Church ?" 

While Mr. Makemie is leading in these great in- 
terests of God's kingdom, he is also proving his 
ability as a man of affairs, and exhibiting his legal 
knowledge in the management of his own enlarged 
possessions and in the settlement of the extensive 
estate of his father-in-law. In June he is forced, as 
executor, to bring suit in the Accomack court against 



314 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1699. 

the estate of Samuel Hudson, and in August against 
John Miskeli. In these cases he enters the name of 
no counsel, but appears as his own lawyer. 

We hear of many Huguenots coming to Virginia 
this year and settling on the James River, led by 
their pastor, Claude Philippe de Richebourg. There 
they are planning for the manufacture of cloth, and 
for making claret wine from the wild Virginia grape. 
While a furious High-Church Tory Commons have 
disbanded the chivalrous Huguenot soldiery in the 
British Isles and are trying to drive their good friend 
the king to desperation, these noble French refugees 
are welcomed and valued in our two colonies. Here 
that generous blood and our own are to go on min- 
gling down the centuries. 

On the 31st of December, adopting a favorite cus- 
tom of Scotland — that of marrying on the last day of 
the year — my brother John, never having recovered 
from that first Troubadour canzo, stands side by side 
with the sweet singer of the Vincennes, and they are 
made one by the published banns and by the voice 
of our Scotch-Irish minister. Such is the blending of 
national customs and of nations in one marriage and 
in the American future. 

What a century it has been, the century now clos- 
ing ! What a tumultuous sea of human passions ! 
Above the loud surges we hear the voice of the 
pledged Covenants of Scotland and the holy songs 
of Marot in France; and the very billows that raged 
the wildest have lifted God's true Church and thrown 
it upon these Western shores. In the words of Sir 
William Temple, who has just passed away — the man 
who brought about the marriage of William of Orange 



A. D. 1699.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 315 

and the princess Mary, and who is called the polisher 
of English prose — "passions are perhaps the stings 
without which, it is said, no honey is made." It may 
be that much pure honey may yet be gathered from 
the dead carcass of the seventeenth century. On its 
tomb I here inscribe the words of Makemie:* 

" Christ is the Sole King, Head and Lawgiver of his 
Church." 

* Anszver to Keith. 



CHAPTER XXI. 
A. D. 1700. 

" I hope these things will engage you to be more favorable and char- 
itable to Dissenters until you more rationally weigh and consider the 
grounds and reasons of their dissent."~MAKEMiE, 

HIS name is Francis — the tiny Pocomoke boy- 
born in the Httle "wigwam in the pines" — 
Francis Makemie Winston. Dr. Vigerous pronounces 
him a noble American specimen, worthy of his name- 
sake. My father prophesies that it is but the begin- 
ning of many similar echoes of the name far beyond 
the century now opening (62). 

This same year there have been born two other little 
boys — one in England, by the name of James Thom- 
son, and another in Wales, by the name of John Dyer. 
A precocious boy twelve years old by the name of 
Alexander Pope is scribbling verses and begging to 
be introduced at Will's Coffee-House that he may 
see the famous poet Dryden, who dies at sixty-nine 
before the year ends. Another little fellow of twelve 
is named John Gay. In Scotland there is a juvenile 
Allen Ramsey fourteen years old, and in England a 
certain Edward Young of nineteen, and a Thomas 
Parnell of just twenty-one. In the fatherland there 
are also some sprightly young men — an Isaac Watts 
of twenty-six, and a William Congreve and a Joseph 
Addis n, b h of twenty-eight. Also Jonathan Swift 



A. D. 1700.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 317 

of thirty-three, Matthew Prior of thirty-four, and 
Daniel Defoe, Richard Bently and Matthew Henry 
— all of thirty-eight. In France there is a Fenelon 
of forty-nine, and in England a Mr. John Locke of 
sixty-eight, feeble and fading. 

Over all these as little boys, mothers have dreamed 
their dreams of love and hope as another mother by 
the Pocomoke now dreams and sings over the cradle 
of our own baby Francis, their contemporary. Is not 
the young century itself born to holy aims and grand 
achievements ? 

In the log church at Rehoboth, now beginning to 

look old and straitened, we stand, William and I and 

the child, and Mr. Makemie tells how we received the 

ordinance — not from Rome, as the Quakers charge, 

but from Jesus Christ; and he speaks earnestly of 

the evils arising from unfaithful training: 

" The lot of many and the bane of thousands, who were born 
and nurtured in famihes where no godly or rehgious instruction 
is enjoyed, no true rehgion is practiced or performed, neither 
are any imitable or desirable patterns presented for imitation. 
How many are there among such as call and repute themselves 
Christian famihes where many are born and propagated to suc- 
ceed them in their estates and bear their names, but few educat- 
ed to honor and glorify God and trained up to walk when young 
171 the way they should go ? And when neglected or corrupted 
in their first education and tender years, it is a hard matter to 
rectify them during the following course of their lives." * 

While he urged upon us the duty and the privilege 
of leading our offspring early to Christ, I could not 
help thinking of the minister's own conversion in boy- 
hood, and of the useful life which has grown out of it. 
The boy-Christian of Lough Swilly is now the Paul 
of the Chesapeake, and the water which fell from his 

* New York sermon. 



3l8 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1700. 

fingers upon the brow of the child seemed only the 
more significant for the recollection of that youthful 
conversion in the country of the Laggan. 

After service, Mr. Bray — our elder, not the commis- 
sary — Mr. Fenton, Mr. Whittington and Colonel Jen- 
kins were kind enough to gather about us and com- 
pliment the young Marylander. Madam Mary Jenkins 
held him while I was mounting the pony, and left a 
nice baptismal present in my hands. When the bun- 
dle was opened, I found a little dress embroidered 
with her own needle, and a bright new copy of Mr. 
Makemie's Catechism. 

I saw the two Rehoboth lots owned by our pastor, 
on one of which there begins to be some talk of erect- 
ing a new Presbyterian church. A little flock still, we 
bravely think of enlargement. When this is done it 
will be by the free suffrages and the voluntary con- 
tributions of our own people, not by forced exactions 
upon the tobacco-crops. Most of the prelatic churches 
now standing in the province were built under enact- 
ments admittedly illegal. " Unlawful conventicles " 
has been a phrase frequently upon the lips of certain 
parties, but it is well to remember that there is another 
side to that story. 

Mr. Makemie's old opponent, George Keith, having 
at last completed his somersault, has been admitted to 
holy orders in the Anglican Church. Preceding this 
step, he publishes his Reasons for renouncing Quaker- 
ism and entering into Communion with the Church of 
England. When deserting the Presbyterians for the 
Quakers, his chief zeal was against the former ; now 
•his heaviest assaults will probably be waged against 
his late associates. 



A. D. I700.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 319 

Shall we see George Keith receiving the pecuniary 
support which he has bitterly stigmatized, assailing 
the Catechism for saying that " people are to maintain 
their ministers," and reproaching its author because 
" he doth not inform the people that all true ministers 
of Christ, as they have freely received, so they freely 
give, without desiring or bargaining for any settled 
maintenance nor exacting it by force as Presbyterian 
ministers commonly do"? 

As heretofore, our pastor declines to contract for 
any fixed salary. He manages his secular affairs with 
success, and is carefully administering upon the Ander- 
son estate. Notwithstanding his large business, he has 
seldom been engaged in litigation for himself, but as 
executor he is frequently forced into court. On the 
15th of March he brings suit in Accomack, another 
on the 2d of April, and three more on the 4th of June. 
The next day he files a power of attorney for trans- 
action of business on behalf of Joseph Pickman of 
Cork, Ireland, mariner, who calls him his " trusty and 
well-beloved friend " and affixes the title of " Clerk," 
the term for clergyman. His reputation is established 
as a man of affairs as well as a servant of God. 

In Virginia they have been celebrating the first 
commencement at William and Mary's College. It 
was a great event, talked of far and wide. Planters 
gathered from all the country around, and sloops 
went to Williamsburg with visitors from Maryland, 
New York and Massachusetts. Fifty-eight years be- 
fore, the latter colony had celebrated a similar event 
at Harvard. At Williamsburg the astonished red 
men of the forest assembled to witness the exercises 
of the graduates. With so many of the youth grow- 



320 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1700. 

ing Up in ignorance, the whole Chesapeake seems 
moved under this novel sensation — the rocking of the 
cradle of literature and science. 

With my little boy in my arms, I have been think- 
ing, mother-like, of that commencement, and of other 
commencements in the days to come. Why shall 
not little Francis be a scholar and a preacher like his 
namesake? Of Presbyterians, Mr. Makemie testifies: 

" They are highly for School education and learning and Aca- 
demical accomphshments ; for fitting and preparing men in an 
ordinary way for ministerial offices in the Church ; not exclud- 
ing but including particular gifts and qualifications and a call 
from God to that great work."* 

The Virginians are having a lively time with their 
governor, the friend of arbitrary power in Church 
and in State. We watch his course with interest 
because of his great zeal for the Establishment while 
here, and because our pastor still lives under his gov- 
ernment. Nicholson and Commissary Blair are at 
open rupture, the vestries taking part with the one 
and the clergy with the other. Next come the absurd- 
ity and the madness of a wild love-affair. One of the 
nine daughters of Lewis Burwell unfortunately wins 
the heart of our chivalric knight, and he demands 
her hand in fine style, aping royal pomp. She de- 
clines, as fair maidens have right to do, and he rages, 
declaring to her that he will slay her father and 
brothers unless she accedes to his suit. He tells 
the commissary that if she marry any one else he 
will cut the throat of the bridegroom, of the ofHcer 
who issues the license, and of the officiating minister. 

* Truths in a True Light. For college commencement, see Camp- 
bell's Virginia, p. 361. 



A. D. 1700.] THE DAYS OF MAKE MIR. 32 1 

The Rev. Mr. Fowace visits Miss Burwell, and the 
governor denounces him and pulls off the clergyman's 
hat with insults. Thus among these high officials of the 
Virginia Establishment the tragedy — or comedy — goes 
on,* causing as great excitement in that province as 
the second visit of William Penn is causing among 
the Quakers in Pennsylvania. 

Maryland too has her excitements signalizing the 
opening of the century. Were it not for the presence 
of the zealous commissary, the dispirited Episcopalians 
would seem disposed at times to relinquish all hope of 
the Establishment. Some of them are very willing to 
let the law default in order to escape- the tax upon their 
own tobacco.f Dr. Bray perseveres. Notwithstand- 
ing instructions given to colonial governors that when 
a law has been reversed or rejected by the king in 
council no bill of the same nature shall be passed 
again, the commissary goes energetically to work, 
visiting through the province, calling conferences of 
the clergy and pleading with the governor, to secure 
another enactment. When the Assembly meets, he 
preaches and lobbies, until a law concocted by the 
united talents of himself and the attorney-general is 
passed with enthusiasm. 

Coming over to America with loud praises sounded 
before him for conscientiousness and sanctity. Dr. Bray 
has now become privy to a wrong which must for ever 
meet the execration of all good men. It must be re- 
membered that repeated failures in the past had caused 
great care and precision in the wording of this enact- 
ment. At my father's suggestion I preserve part of it : 

* Bishop Meade's Old Churches^ ii. 291. 
f Bishop Hawks's Maryland, p. 99, etc. 
21 



322 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1700. 

" The Book of Common Prayer and administration of the 
Sacraments, with the rites and ceremonies of the Church ac- 
cording to the use of the Church of England, the Psalter and 
Psalms of David and morning and evening prayer therein con- 
tained, shall be solemnly read and by all and every minister or 
reader in every church, or other place of public worship, within 
this province." 

Of course nothing else would be needed to force 
their Liturgy into our churches at Rehoboth, Mono- 
kin, Snow Hill and Rockawalkin, and those who drew 
the law cannot be ignorant of the fact.* 

Jubilant in their success, the visitation held at An- 
napolis in May by Dr. Bray and seventeen of his 
clergy, sent delegations conveying their hearty thanks 
to the governor and to the speaker of the House. On 
one of these delegations was Mr. Trotter, rector of the 
parishes of Somerset and Stepney. These men of 
God cannot repress their great gratitude for being 
clothed with authority to appropriate to their own 
use the meeting-houses of Dissenters ! Among those 
sitting with them and voting heartily for this ebulli- 
tion of gratitude is a Rev. Mr. T (full name not 

published), whom the commissary, before adjourn- 
ment, charges with polygamy, and whose only de- 
fence is that he lived in adultery with the former 
reputed wife ! f 

Dr. Bray reminds him, as an aggravation of his 
offence, 

"This scandal is given at a juncture when our 
Church here is weakest and our friends seem to be 

* Bishop Hawks tries to believe that it did not mean what it said. 
Anderson {History of the Colonial Church, ii. 413) puts unqualified 
condemnation upon the law. 

•}■ Hawks's Maryland, Appendix : " The Acts of Dr. Bray's Visita- 
tion, Held at Annapolis in Mary-Land, May 23, 24, 25, Anno 1700." 



A. D. lyoo.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 323 

fewest and our enemies the strongest. And what 
more popular argument could they use than * You 
see what sort of persons the forty pounds per poll 
goes to maintain ' ?" 

Of course ! Credit should be given the commissary 
for doing his best to enforce discipline among his 
clergy, and to prevent any more of these corrupt 
men from coming over. He speaks of another, now 
gone to Virginia, who ** had lately so wofully behaved 
himself" Dr. Bray well says, 

" I am apt to suspect those as not great enemies to 
a vicious life themselves that of all men can be favor- 
able to an immoral priest." 

Honoring the commissary for many good traits and 
deeds, we only regret that his zeal in pressing his one 
great purpose has now led him to an utter disregard 
of the rights of other Christians. His anxious clergy 
hurry him back to England to look after the iniqui- 
tous law and prevent its miscarriage. But there it fails, 
the attorney-general condemning the objectionable 
clause as utterly subversive of the Toleration Act, 
and of every principle of justice. To the impatient 
and hungry beneficiaries around us this is another 
sad defeat. After the passage of the enactment, for 
which they were so grateful, Dr. Bray had said, 

" We should look back upon the deliverance this 
infant Church has so lately received as having been, 
in human appearance, totally stifled and extinguished 
till the re-establishment it has received within a few 
days by a new law." 

Now, as that new law is annulled, the Church is 
" stifled and extinguished " again ! Rectors' faces are 
longer than the faces of Puritans ! No one seems to 



324 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1700. 

dream of the Church hving and growing by its own 
labors and upon its own merits. 

We have often trembled along the coast at the 
frightful stories of the buccaneers. Three years ago 
Carthagena was captured by them with immense 
booty. Since the Peace of Ryswick they have been 
less in number, but pirates still infest the ocean, and 
it is not children only who shudder as we hear of 
their robberies. Mr. Makemie's sloop, with many 
others, runs the gauntlet upon every voyage. We 
are often solicitous for our preacher's safety. The 
pirate Captain Kidd has looked over the Sinepux- 
ent beach, and has passed within the capes of the 
Delaware. This year a pirate has captured several 
vessels in Lynnhaven Bay, almost in sight of Mr. 
Josiah Mackie's plantation, giving terrific fright to 
the people along-shore. A man-of-war arriving op- 
portunely, an action took place on the 29th of April, 
and the pirate surrendered within the capes of the 
Chesapeake.* This is coming very near us. Sailors 
tell of being chased, and tales of blood and pillage 
have often scared away our sleep. 

In the defeat of this year's law of Establishment, 
we escape ecclesiastical piracy no less cruel and 
wrongful than that which has hovered around our 
coast. While talking of this attempt to obtrude their 
ritual into our churches, William takes down Mr. Ma- 
kemie's Barbadoes pastoral and reads as follows : 

" We dare not receive nor comply with stinted and imposed 
forms or liturgies of worship, because not commanded nor war- 
ranted by the Word of God, nor known in the purest and origi- 
nal centuries of the Gospel churches ; but composed without 

* Campbell's Virginia, p. 361. 



A. D. 1700.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 325 

Divine commission, and required merely by men in the degene- 
rate and latter ages of the Gospel. 

" Such ministers as have received of God and have given suf- 
ficient proof to many of their praying gifts and abilities, dare not 
ordinarily and in their ordinary administrations, tie themselves to 
and only use these prescribed book forms, lest they should be 
guilty of not using and improving but hiding and burying their 
gifts and talent, and so incur the character of unlawful ser- 
vants. 

" We dare not read as a part of public worship the Apocrypha 
Books which are enjoy ned and read ; seeing they are acknowl- 
edged by all not to be Canonical Scripture, and owned by many 
and in many things false and fabulous ; especially while we have 
the Scripture by us, that perfect rule of faith and manners. 

" We cannot nor dare not allow in public worship, which should 
be for the edification of all, that inarticulate and unintelligible way 
and noise of the people ; all, or most, confusedly speak together, 
one man's voice drowning the accent of another, which seems to 
be so far from order that it appears confusion, as service in an 
unknown tongue. Hickeringill tells us he suffers no such bab- 
bling in his church at All-Saints in Colchester as is made by 
alternate responses. 

" We cannot allow women to speak in the church ; as many 
of yours in your whole services talk more in a day than some 
Quaker women, condemned by most for that practice." 

Our pioneer accepts absolutely Paul's commanded 
silence of the women in public worship. Think of 
Naomi Makemie preaching in one of our pulpits ! 
Her husband said to Keith, 

" God has laid down all the qualifications of ministers of the 
gospel, which Quakers can never find in all their teachers, espe- 
cially of the femmme sex'' 

After the above scriptural hit at our proud Episco- 
pal ladies, he continues : 

" We dare not add to the sacrament of Baptism an airy sign 
of the cross that perishes with the using, more than spittle, oil 
and salt ; nor allow the spiritual signification imposed by men 
and explained in the 30th Canon, seeing Baptism signifies all 
that and more. And you own in the form for private Baptism 



326 THE DAYS OF MAKE M IE. [A. D. 1700. 

that it is valid and sufficient without it. And, further, it is abused 
at this day to idolatry in Romish churches. 

" We cannot, we dare not in Baptism exclude the parents from 
engaging and promising in behalf of their own children, and take 
in other sureties whom none expect to perform what they promise 
and undertake ; which indeed is impossible for any to perform, 
especially when more ignorant and more irreligious sureties are 
called in than the excluded parents ; as Papists, ignorant and 
profane persons, strangers, and sometimes young children ; 
which we apprehend to be a willful promoting of known per- 
fidiousness and a downright mockery of God. 

" We dare not assent to the damning sentence of Athanasius' 
Creed, which many of the elder sons of your church wished 
never had been in Common Prayer. We dare not say, Every 
person baptized is immediately regenerated ; for so all baptized 
would be saved. 

" In the Burial of the Dead we dare not call every one, whether 
we know them or not, our dear sister or brother, and, as a part of 
public worship, say, ' We have a sure and certain hope of their 
resurrection to eternal life ; ' and to make no difference between 
the wicked and the godly, a Protestant and a Papist, an atheist 
once baptized and a serious Christian, allowing them the same 
charity and character, seems an encouragement to ungodliness 
and a discouragement to holiness. 

" Though we are for visiting, instructing, convincing, admon- 
ishing, praying for, and comforting the sick, according as we find 
their state and condition various and different ; yet we apprehend 
the burial service to be symbolizing with Rome and no part of 
God's public worship or any commanded part of a minister's 
work. And, though it is said it has no relation to the dead at 
all but only for the edification of the living, why was it denied to 
the living at the funeral of the Rev. Mr. Henry Vaughn ? Why 
is it denied to the living at the funeral of unbaptized and excom- 
municated persons ? Why is it read ofttimes when the people 
are gone except two that remain to cover the corpse ? Why do 
the deceased persons pay for it ? And lately there was a poor 
man to whom it was denied, being unbaptized. Actions with 
vulgar people are more demonstrative than words. And what 
edification does that afford to the living that is read to the entry 
of the church-yard, of which few or none hear one word ? and 
why is it not all either read in the desk or at the grave ?" 

My father thinks that this extract will be valuable in 



A. D. I700.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 32/ 

days to come as casting illustrative light upon the cus- 
toms of the time and upon the attitude of opposing 
parties, especially in view of the Obtrusion Act passed 
at Annapolis this year. Of one thing, however, we may 
be sure — that the Book of Common Prayer will never 
be enthroned in our Rehoboth pulpit. 



CHAPTER XXII. 
A. D. 1701. 

" We do not maintain a perseverance depending on the will of man, 
but on the gracious covenant, the everlasting purpose of God, the un- 
changeableness of his love, and efficaciousness of Christ's death." — 
Makemie. 

MATCHACOOPAH and his friend Assateague 
Weegnonah have been to see us, bringing gifts 
to the Httle Francis Makemie Winstone. The presents 
are strings of roenoke and peake, the two kinds of coin 
used by the Indians and supphed largely for com- 
merce by the Chingoteague, Assateague and Assawa- 
man tribes. The roenoke is made from cockle-shells 
wrought into small pieces like beads with holes 
drilled through them. It is of darker color and less 
valuable than the peake. The latter is a longer cyl- 
inder, also perforated, and made of the finer conch- 
shells, carefully polished.* They both have exact 
values, reckoned sometimes by bulk-measure, but 
more frequently by the yard after being strung. 
Wampum — the name for both kinds of money — 
means ** shells." These money-beads are often made 
into belts and other ornaments. 

I find that Thomas Cornwallis, one of the most 
prominent of the founders of Maryland, was licensed 
by our Council, in 1637, to trade with the Indians for 

*Bozman, ii. 77, 590. 



A. D. 1701.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 329 

roenoke or peake, this new American currency being 
thus officially recognized as a legal tender. In the 
inventory of Clayborne's property seized by Lord 
Baltimore's government at Palmer's Island in 1639 
is this item : " Six yards of peake and one and a half 
of roenoke!' In 16 14, when the sister of Pocohontas 
was asked in marriage for one of the colonists, her 
father answered that he ** had sold her a few days 
before to a great Werowance for two bushels oiroe- 
nokel' so that it was a legal tender in the matrimonial 
market as well as in commercial circles. 

The wigwams along the seaside are mints for the 
manufacture of this coin. Our little boy may now 
wear as an ornament that for which his reverend 
namesake has often trafficked, paying for the furs 
of the Indians in money by the yard, while they paid 
for his molasses in money by the quart. 

Says Matchacoopah, 

" Wahocki-a-zvatmtet (man-child) is zvaap-pay-it and 
whuis-kai-n (white and new). He is wee-eet and wee- 
e-eet (good and pretty)." 

" Good " and " pretty " are very nearly the same in 
the Nanticoke dialect. " Pretty is that pretty does," 
as we say. 

My husband leads Weegnonah to tell of the time 
when the white traders first entered the Assateague 
and Sinepuxent bays : 

'' Pip see que (a bird) brought tales across from the 
big sea on the west. My now-oze (father) told of 
days before I was born. Where Pocomoke is lost 
in the large waters, the Indians had seen long ago a 
great floating wigwam. With the wings of the qua- 
haiv-qu7int (wild-goose) it fl.ew nearer. Faces like 



330 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1701. 

qiio7io (snow) were in it. They asked for water, and 
drank and carried it away. From the Nanticokes 
other birds came with stories. The Nanticokes were 
warhke, and shot their arrows at the floating wigwam. 
Then awaJi-shiick and ton-que-ah (thunder and Hght- 
ning) burst from the terrible sea-wigwam. The fright- 
ened Nanticokes dare not fight. They knew it was 
aiip-shee-in-qjio (fooHsh). They made signs of e-wee- 
ni-tit (peace). They wanted no mat-aJi-ki-zvccn (war). 
Then the pale-faced gods gave them beads and 
bells, and glasses in which the Indians could see 
themselves." 

We saw that Weegnonah was giving the traditions 
surviving among his people of the explorations of 
Captain Smith along the shores of the Chesapeake 
nearly a century ago. He continued: 

" So the fathers had told us. It seemed like the 
song of ah-mitton-qua (the mocking-bird), which had 
flown away. It was a day in the Shad Moon (March). 
Weegnonah was old enough to chase the butter- 
flies. Canoes had come from the sand-hills of mauk- 
nippint (the big pond), bringing conchs to make the 
peake. But, lo ! far toward the island of the Chingo- 
teagues, something else moves upon the waters. It is 
a mighty sea-gull. No ; it is the palace of some great 
toatiun. No ; it is the house of Mann-itt. The white 
lemuckqiiicksc (hills) seem to shrink away. The voice 
of i)iaiik-7iip-pint is troubled. On the wings of ayewasJi 
(the wind) it draws nearer. 

" Some recall the tradition of the Pocomoke and 
Nanticoke, and say it is the pale-faced gods. Some 
say it is Matt-ann-tote (the devil). They call the 
wizard. When he blows, our enemies fall and die. 



A. D. 1 701. J THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE, 33 1 

He says these strangers are matsepootqiiat (bad) 
— that they are witches. He will drive them out 
of the beautiful bay. Our chief promises roenoke 
and peake. The wizard comes to the shore dressed 
in bearskins. He has long claws; his eyes are like 
flame. He is dreadful. He blows at them the breath 
of death. They do not sink ! 

" The wizard runs for his poisons. He flings them 
at the great winged yotick-Jmck (house). It will 
not stop. Then he throws his poisoned spear [ne- 
poikeehek), and at the signal the Indians raise the 
frightful whoop and throw theirs. Then there came 
a burst of fire and smoke (sicnt and niponqiiotai). 
It thundered, and ahkee (the earth) shook beneath 
us. 

" The wizard falls down in terror. He crawls away 
to pamp-tiick-koik (the woods). He says that the 
witchcraft of the palefaces is too strong for the witch- 
craft of the Nentegoes (the tide-water people). He 
declares it is Matt-ann-tote (the devil). 

" We know better now. These were your own peo- 
ple. It was the first boat of the white man. Where 
Indian canoes had been paddled many ages, it went 
up and down the waters, flying upon the wings 
of ayewash (the wind). Assateague and Sinepux- 
ent loved the deep keels. We traded our peltry. 
They brought us beads and red cloth and the fire- 
waters. Assateagues and white men were friends. 
Tobacco grows for both. We drink from the same 
calabash. We smoke the white pipe (the pipe of 
peace, eweenitu). 

" Once match-kat-quot (a cloud) appeared. In the 
moon of Roasting-Ears (August) palefaces from the 



332 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1701. 

land of the Accomacks wanted war. The black 
wampum-belt, the red hatchet painted on it, was 
sent from chief to chief along the seaside and over 
beyond the Pocomoke. The tatt-ak (king) of the 
bad whites was angry, and came with horses and 
guns." 

Weegnonah was evidently speaking of the expedi- 
tion of Edmund Scarborough against the Assateagues 
in 1659.* He proceeded : 

"After a while the cloud went down. The Quae- 
kels" ("Quakers") "came into our land. The bad 
white chief and his friends had driven them here. 
They loved peace. But at one time he put on his 
war-paint and swam the Pocomoke, and followed 
them to the Monokin. He hated the Quaekels. 
Once we thought of killing all the whites while in 
a quarrel and divided. But the Quaekels were kind 
to the Indian. Then the great father across the bay 
said the bad white chief must stay beyond the marked 
trees. The smell of the smoke from the white pipe is 
wee-ing-iin (sweet)." 

The dashing Virginia cavalier, Edmund Scarbor- 
ough, had left his memory deeply impressed upon 
the minds of both Indians and Quakers in the lower 
Maryland peninsula. 

A relative of this Scarborough, Edmund Custis, a 
man of wealth and a warm friend of Mr. Makemie, 
died early this year. The first Virginia Custis, an 
innkeeper of Rotterdam, had married the daughter 
of Scarborough, and from the latter Mr. Makemie's 
friend had inherited the Christian name. Mr Ander- 
son spoke of Edmund Custis as his own " worthy 

* Report on Boundary of Virginia and Maryland, p. 22. 



A. D. 1701.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 333 

friend," gave him his favorite saddle-horse and ap- 
pointed him to an important position in the settle- 
ment of his estate. This had already brought him 
and our minister into intimate business relations, and 
had afforded him opportunity to test Mr. Makemie's 
qualifications as a financier. 

On the 4th of February — the Frog Moon, as Wee- 
gnonah would call it, because on some of its warm 
days the " Virginia bells " first begin to ring — the will 
of Mr. Custis was recorded in court, Mr. and Mrs. 
Makemie its executors. The trust is greater because 
there are minor children to be cared for and educated. 
The choice of a Presbyterian minister to this import- 
ant trust in Virginia in these days of proscription is 
a high testimonial to his integrity, business tact and 
sterling worth. 

To Mr. Makemie he bequeaths his sloop Tabitha, 
with her boat and appurtenances — the sloop named 
for his daughter, Tabitha Custis, not quite seventeen 
years old. A few more wills like those of Anderson 
and Custis will entitle our minister to the title "Ad- 
miral of the Chesapeake." When the North-Ireland 
boy was launching his bark-navies upon the waters 
of Lough Swilly, did he dream that he would some 
day be freighting his sloops with tobacco and furs in 
the fabulous American wilds ? 

There is another bequest — not very clerical — and 
Colonel Jenkins is joking our pastor about it. And 
yet during his long horseback rides through the lonely 
forests, a man of means subject to attack by bad Indians 
and worse white men, or when chased upon the deep 
by pirates, the gift may not be inopportune. The 
War of the Succession will increase the number of 



334 THE DAYS OF MAKE M IE. [A. D. 1701. 

marauders along the coast, and, it may be, will en- 
danger the pleasant home and store near Pocomoke 
Strand. Interested for the personal safety of his friend 
and not doubting his courage, the dying man leaves him 
" my new large pair of pistoUs." 

** Put it down, of course," said my father, speaking 
of my journal. " Yes, put it down : it will help to 
picture the times." 

To Mrs. Makemie he gives his own saddle-horse, 
Button ; also ten pounds sterling, to buy a ring and 
a scarf. Button may well be proud of his new rider 
thus adorned. 

The will contains a provision which is likely to 
make the duties of the executors not wholly pleasant, 
and, according to certain prophets, our admiral will 
earn his sloop. There is another Tabitha in the case 
— Tabitha Hill, the grandmother of the Custis chil- 
dren. To please the old lady, it is provided that the 
executors shall consult her in all they do. She will 
probably interpret this to mean that her judgment 
must be final in every difficulty. 

On the fifth of the same Frog Moon a suit instituted 
by Mr. Charles Scarborough against Mr. Makemie is 
dismissed for default, the plaintiff not appearing, find- 
ing, perhaps, that he had no case. 

In the same court, record is made of the public 
spirit of our busy minister. In this new country there 
is a great scarcity of mill-facilities, and the colonists 
must carry their grain long distances or depend 
upon horse-mills, hand-mills or hominy-mortars. The 
horse-mill, which Mr. Anderson's will would keep per- 
manently upon the Pocomoke plantation, supplies the 
convenience of Mr. Makemie and his neighbors, but 



A. D. 1701.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 335 

his enterprise reaches out to the growing settlements 
east and south-east of him. The Rehoboth mill 
stands alone in a broad belt from the bayside to 
the seaside, and has already done long and faithful 
service. 

In 1667 the Virginia Assembly, possessed with zeal 
for internal improvements, passed an act granting cer- 
tain privileges to any who would construct water-mills. 
For some while Mr. Makemie has had his eye upon 
one of the watercourses near which he passes while 
riding over to Mrs. Anderson's Occocomson planta- 
tion. This year he purchases an acre of land from 
Mr. Thomas Stockly, "beginning on the southern- 
most side of the Upper Church bridge, upon the brow 
of the branch next the Creek, and running up the hill 
along the main road." This " church " is the Assawa- 
man Episcopal church, built in 1687 — the year of Col- 
onel Stevens's death. In the recorded conveyance our 
minister binds himself "to build at the said Church, 
alias Taylor's Bridge, one grist-mill, also a fulling- 
mill ;" with the privilege to cut from Mr. Stockly 's 
land any small timber for ever, except board tim- 
ber and some white oak, and Mr. Stockly and his 
heirs " shall be hopper-free as long as said mill shall 
grind." 

On the 5th of August, Mr. Makemie makes applica- 
tion to the Accomack court, asking encouragement in 
the construction of the mill according to act of As- 
sembly. They take it under consideration. Surely 
the authorities will not fail to reward the energy of 
one of their most enterprising citizens ! 

On the same day begin the troubles from the old 
grandmother. With no marked reverence for Presby- 



33^ THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1701. 

terian preachers in general, Madam Tabitha evidently 
intends valiant fight against Mr. Makemie in partic- 
ular. He is mismanaging the business, doing the 
heirs injustice, "wasting" the Custis estate! She re- 
fuses her consent to what he attempts, delays the 
settlement, and then lays the blame on him. Un- 
doubtedly she means to make him pay dearly for the 
sloop which bears the name of herself and her grand- 
daughter. She comes boldly into court and charges 
him with malfeasance. Does she expect to worry and 
drive him out of the executorship, forgetting the per- 
fervidiiDi ingenimii Scotovum ? Her charges can be 
met by having inspectors to examine into all this pre- 
tended ''wasting," and the court appoints them. 

Our Somerset court has just ordered the building 
of a prison at Rehoboth, the prison erected at Divid- 
ing Creek six years ago proving insufficient. Henry 
Hudson suggests that the new gaol be located near 
the church for clerical accommodation, prophesying 
that the Episcopalians in Somerset and Madam Tabi- 
tha Hill in Accomack will soon make it a neces- 
sity. 

The two churches, Episcopalian and Presbyterian, 
the mill, the prison and the adjacent farms of promi- 
nent citizens are causing the little Rehoboth village 
to be a centre of considerable note. The preaching 
of the sound doctrines of grace renders it more illus- 
trious still. Staunch Calvinism well suits a region of 
many trials, temptations and hardships. Scattered 
Presbyterians, coming from the midst of enemies 
beyond the sea, and living here in poverty and amid 
growing opposition, are strengthened in their lot by 
strong meat from their strong teacher: 



A. D. I70I.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 337 

" Such as deny the perseverance of the saints must be igno- 
rant of what Christ has done for the confirmation of the gracious 
state of behevers. First, His redeeming them from all the de- 
mands of Divine Justice with his precious blood. Second, Re- 
deeming them from the power of Satan. Third, From the do- 
minion of sin. Fourth, He is gone to prepare a place, for them. 
Fifth, He makes intercession in Heaven for them. Sixth, He 
promises his Spirit to abide in them, to complete his begun work 
in them and establish them ; all which is abundantly confirmed 
from Scripture." 

Thus he would guard the Christian heroes of the 
New World from any relaxing distrust of God's 
faithfulness and power: 

"The final and total fall and apostacy of regenerate saints is 
inconsistent with the nature of grace ; which is an incorruptible 
seed that cannot be totally extinguished where'er it is planted of 
God. And further, it much weakens the faith of the saints, their 
hope and confidence in God's preservation of them from falling, 
which the experience and confidence of the Apostle Paul testifies 
they firmly believe, Rom viii. 35-39, and that in their deepest 
trials and afflictions. Finally, it robs the regenerated children 
of God of their spiritual joy and holy consolation in the Holy 
Ghost, by filling them with perpetual fears, anxiety and doubts 
about their state. It destroys the promise of God's establishing 
and confirming Spirit and leaves the Catholic Church of God, 
which the gates of hell cannot prevail against, upon a most 
ticklish foundation." * 

Mr. Makemie intends to place our American Pres- 
byterianism upon no such " ticklish " basis. The 
bone and sinew and nerve of no solid, enduring 
Church grows out of a gospel of falling and laps- 
ing. 

We are glad to see our Rehoboth elder, Mr. Pierce 
Bray, with a home of his own. He has just bought 
a tract of land of Mr. John Walton and become a 

* Answer to Keith. 
22 



33^ THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1701. 

freeholder on the great continent.* May the elder- 
ship, the voice o{ the people in ecclesiastical govern- 
ment — that scriptural bulwark against priestly tyr- 
anny — become firmly rooted to the American soil ! 
The arbitrary authority of a titled hierarchy Mr. 
Makemie finds nowhere in the New Testament. 
He says : 

"Another thing wherein we dissent is concerning the govern- 
ment of the church by Archbishops, Bishops, Chancellors, Com- 
missaries, Deans, Deans and Chapters, Arch-deacons, etc. ; as 
not having foundations in the Scriptures, nor in the government 
of the Gospel Churches, nor agreeable to the government of the 
first centuries after our Saviour. And though we are for Script- 
ure bishops, both name and office, and wish with Dr. Wild in 
his poetic flight, 'Where there is one, there were ten,' neither 
would refuse the government of the first two or three hundred 
years after our Savior ; yet there are several things in which we 
dissent, and which many of yours dislike, in English or Dioce- 
san Bishops or Prelacy ; as — 

" I. Creating and erecting new offices and officers besides what 
Christ gave to and instituted in his Church, the names whereof 
are not so much as known or mentioned in the Scriptures. 

" 2. Promoting pre-eminence, and destroying that ministerial 
parity our Saviour commanded and industriously maintained in 
his days, forbidding all mastery and dominion over each other. 

" 3. Their assuming high and lordly titles and temporal digni- 
ties and civil places, being advanced above most peers and states- 
men. This was offensive to good old Latimer, who in a sermon 
advised King Edward VI, to unlord all the Lordly Bishops and 
remove them from all their temporal offices and employments 
that they might follow their spiritual plough-tail. 

"4. Their frequenting the Court, attending the Council Table, 
and sitting in Parliaments, to the utter neglect of their charge 
and work, being above preaching, praying and administering of 
sacraments and church government too. Therefore a non-preach- 
ing Bishop called a preaching Bishop a preaching coxcomb. And 
what prejudice would it be to the State, but what a great advan- 

* First mention found on Somerset records. He sat in Presbytery in 
1 7 10. 



A. D. I70I.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 339 

tage to the Church, if the Government saw it meet to revive 
again that old vote of a Church of England parliament recorded 
in Baker's Chro7iicles, That no Bishop should have any vote in 
parliament, nor any Judicial power in the Star Chamber, nor 
bear any sway in temporal affairs, and that no clergyman should 
be in commission of the peace. 

" 5. Their grasping at a larger charge over many great congre- 
gations of a vast diocess, whereby an Episcopal charge and care 
can no more be performed or discharged in the sight of God — as 
over the diocess of London and all English plantations, while so 
much time is spent at Court and in secular affairs — than the 
Italian Bishop can be Metropolitan of the Christian World."* 

The population of Maryland at this time is said to 
be twenty-five thousand ; of Virginia, forty thousand ; 
and of Pennsylvania, twenty thousand. f In our prov- 
ince there has been little increase in numbers or pros- 
perity since the Baltimores were displaced and the 
agitations against religious liberty superseded the 
previous toleration.^ Church-of-England parishes and 
their tobacco churches are the monuments of Mary- 
land's decline. 

Mr. Penn is still in America, and, on the eve of re- 
turning to Europe, has just issued a new form of gov- 
ernment. His colony is thereby again placed squarely 
on the side of full religious freedom, it being provided : 

" None shall be in any case molested or prejudiced because of 
his or their conscientious persuasion or practice, nor be compelled 
to frequent or maintain any religious worship, place or ministry 
contrary to his or her mind, or to do or suffer any other act or 
thing contrary to their religious persuasion." 

Yet this very year, in the face of these emphatic 
guarantees of perfect toleration to all, the High 
Churchmen of that province deliberately refuse to 

* Truths in a True Light. f Campbell's Virginia, p. 362. 

X McMahon, p. 273. 



340 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1701. 

sign a paper exculpating Penn from the false charge 
of persecution.* To place all churches upon an 
equal footing and give them a fair field upon which 
to prosper or die according to their own merits is a 
crime against Prelacy! They shamelessly decline to 
perform this act of common justice to one who is 
protecting them! 

This same spirit is giving great trouble to our friends 
in Ireland. When Londonderry and Inniskillen are re- 
membered, well may the Synod say : 

" We cannot think our late active zeal for the preservation of 
this kingdom can be forgotten by those who found our assistance 
so heartily granted and useful." 

These patriots are ruthlessly pursued by the bishops' 
courts, which harass with litigation our ministers who 
solemnize marriages, declare those thus married adul- 
terers and try to bastardize the children. The petition 
of Synod cleverly reminds these oppressors that num- 
bers of their own clergy and laity are descended from 
marriages solemnized by Dissenters. The king disap- 
proves of such high-handed injustice, but his hands 
are tied by the Tory High Churchmen. f 

We think of all this while we hear of Commissary 
Bray working indefatigably in England to fix the Es- 
tablishment upon Maryland. He adopts the shrewd 
expedient to have the law drafted by the English au- 
thorities, then enacted in the province and sent back 
to London for confirmation. This will probably suc- 
ceed, but at the expense of a valued principle of colo- 
nial liberty. 

The zealous efforts of the commissary have succeed- 

* Watson's Annals of Philadelphia. f Reid, ii. 483, etc. 



A, D. I70I.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 34 1 

ed in effecting an organization called '' The Society for 
the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts." The 
design is a worthy one, if they will only send a better 
class of missionaries than have fallen to our lot here- 
tofore. To the north of us there are not half a dozen 
Episcopal clergymen; only one in all Pennsylvania. 
Of the material to select from at home, Bishop Bur- 
net himself says : 

" I have observed the clergy in all places throughout which I 
have traveled ; Papists, Lutherans, Calvinists, and Dissenters ; 
but of them all our clergy are much the most remiss in private, 
and the least severe in their lives." * 

In September, James, the abdicated king, dies in 
France. His son is at once recognized by Louis as 
king of England. No less promptly, I suppose, will 
the Tory High Churchmen transfer to the young 
Stuart their ardent affection for. that dynasty. This 
act of Louis will hasten the war for which William 
has been preparing since the death of the King of 
Spain. A reaction has already taken place in Eng- 
land against the factious Parliament, and the people 
will sustain their great leader. The grand alliance 
with the nations of the Continent, brought about by 
his wonderful diplomacy, will serve him in good stead. 
Weak in body, frail and fading, he stands nobly for- 
ward as the champion of Protestantism. 

We again change governors, the administration de- 
volving upon Colonel Edward Loyd, president of the 
Council. Because of ill-health, Blackiston 'resigns 
and goes to England. He is a man of integrity and 
honor, and carries with him the love and the confi- 
dence of the people. He is to act as agent and 

* Burnet's Own Times, vi. 183. 



342 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1701. 

friend of the province in counteracting the influences 
set on foot by our former governor, the lovesick Nich- 
olson, to induce the English government to establish 
arbitrary power in America. 

In reply to inquiries from the home authorities as to 
the condition of the colony, our Council accuses Penn- 
sylvania of being a harbor for fugitive seamen and 
debtors and runaway servants, and of being resorted 
to in late years by pirates. These sea-robbers still 
infest our coasts and bays. Captain Kidd — whose 
name has been a terror, and whose treasure is said to 
be buried along the seaboard — has just been hung in 
chains in England. 

In the midst of all these varied events, Mr. Make- 
mie, Mr. Davis, Mr. Mackie, Mr. Nathaniel Taylor, 
Mr. John Wilson and Mr. Jedediah Andrews stand 
in their lot and preach the blessed gospel (63). The 
latter has this year been ordained in Philadelphia — 
the '* Grove of the Long Pines," or Kuequenakee 
(koo-ek-wen-aw-kee), of the Indians. There the lit- 
tle flock gather around their young pastor and won- 
der if they will ever be stronger. 

Some time during these passing years Mrs. Elinor 
Trail, after an eventful life, has gone to the rest above. 
She was the first brave woman that trod our county's 
soil as the wife of a Presbyterian minister. This year, 
on the 8th of July, Mr. Trail marries again, taking to 
his home, in Borthwick, Jean Murray, the widow of 
David Moncriefl" of Boghall. We think of the plan- 
tation of Brother's Love, and of her who used to sit 
close to the first pulpit in the little log church at 
Rehoboth. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 
A. D. 1702. 

" In favor of some Dissenters I shall only lay down one saying from 
* Hale of Schism '; 'AH pious assemblies in times of persecution and 
corruption are the only lawful congregations ; and the public assem- 
blies, though according to form of law, are indeed nothing but riois 
and conventicles, if stained with corniption and superstition,' " — 
Makemie, 

OF this year the Shad Moon has been the most 
eventful month. On March 16 the law of Es- 
tablishment has been enacted by the Assembly ; and, 
inasmuch as it originated in England and had the 
approval of the authorities in advance, it will meet 
their final sanction. After just ten years' blundering 
and attempted enforcement of illegal enactments, Prel- 
acy now is happy. No doubt it is better for Dissent- 
ers that its authors were driven to England to formu- 
late the statute, for it came back with the Toleration 
Act safely embodied in Jt, and with permission to 
Quakers to affirm instead of taking oath. For this 
they have been pleading since 1674. The lav/ is 
more favorable to us all than any that could have 
been obtained from the Maryland clergy. 

As William works his tobacco-field he brushes off 
the great green tobacco-worms, calls them " Maryland 
parsons," and dispenses a more rigid discipline than 
any yet secured by the efforts of the commissary. 
The sheriff henceforth will collect the products of 



344 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1702. 

the sweat of my husband's brow and apply them to 
the support of the rector of Coventry Parish. If the 
churches and churchyards need repair, and the forty 
pounds per poll and the fines and forfeitures arising 
under this act prove insufficient for the purpose, an- 
other tax of ten pounds per poll may be assessed.* 

After paying these taxes, the Dissenters are per- 
mitted, in great condescension, to worship undisturbed, 
provided they have their meeting-houses registered at 
the county court and keep them " unlocked, unbarred 
and unbolted." Our ministers are required to take the 
oath of allegiance and to subscribe the doctrinal arti- 
cles of the Church of England. In these articles 
there is nothing objectionable, and our ministers can 
far more conscientiously accept them than can their 
own Arminian clergy. But these very provisions 
which secure our protection are an intentional badge 
of inferiority, a reflection upon our loyalty, an im- 
plied suspicion of danger to Church and State from 
locked conventicles. This, too, while the Presbyte- 
rians have been far more true than the Anglican 
Church to our noble king ! 

My father says that an important principle of colo- 
nial freedom has been betrayed. Heretofore the prov- 
ince has stood very firmly upon its right to originate 
its own laws, maintaining this right against both the 
Proprietary and the English authorities. Now, for 
the sake of loaves and fishes, these ecclesiastical plot- 
ters have sold out one of the strongest safeguards of 
our civil liberties. The English authorities, on the 
alert for opportunities to infringe upon the rights of 
the Plantations, planning the destruction of the charters, 

* Hawks's Maryland, '^. 113. 



A. D. 1702.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE, 345 

and encouraged in their encroachment by Nicholson 
and others, must have laughed in their sleeves when 
solicited to go beyond their former veto-power and to 
dictate in advance the law. Tobacco has supplanted 
patriotism. 

King William was never to sign the Act of Mary- 
land Establishment. While the nation, no longer 
under lead of the Tory High Churchmen, were 
backing their monarch enthusiastically and were voting 
men and money for avenging the indignity offered by 
Louis in the recognition of the pretended Prince of 
Wales as king of England, our royal William, cheered 
and happy, was riding at Hampton Court on the 21st 
of February, when his horse stumbled at a mole-hill, 
and the rider fell to the ground, fracturing his collar- 
bone. The little mole had overthrown the hero whom 
all the armies of France and the plots of the non-jurors 
had failed to dethrone. On Sunday, the Sth of March, 
the great champion of toleration died. 

Friends of arbitrary power in Church and State in 
England are toasting William's horse for throwing 
him, and are drinking to the health of " the little 
gentleman in velvet" which caused his fall* 

The princess Anne, sister of Mary, is now queen. 
She is in sympathy with the Church Tories. Dissent- 
ers have but little hope of favor at her hands. The 
Parliament tries to demean the memory of William, 
declaring, " We promise ourselves that in your reign 
we shall see the Church perfectly restored to its due 
rights and privileges." What right and what privilege 
had been taken away except that of persecution ? 

A laughable joke has just been played upon the ex- 

* Knight's England, v. 107. 



34^ THE DAYS OF MAKE M IE. [A. D. 1702. 

tremists. An eloquent pamphlet appears, advocating 
the most atrocious measures against the Nonconform- 
ists. The High Churchmen fall into the trap and ap- 
plaud. Now it transpires that The Shortest Way zvith 
the Dissenters is a shrewd literary hoax written by the 
Dissenter De Foe, full of the keenest irony against 
the ultra-party themselves. They are furious. 

The Scottish Parliament notice the undisguised ex- 
ultation of the Jacobites and reiterate their determined 
adhesion to Presbyterianism. In Ireland the enemies 
of our Church are elated into new aggressions. Per- 
secutions for marriages grow more virulent. Bishop 
King of Derry testifies of the Presbyterians : 

•' Nothing could show more clearly the interest they thought 
themselves to have in his late Majesty's favor than the dejection 
that appears amongst them at present." * 

This is the prelate who denounced the closing of 
the gates of Derry against King James as arrant re- 
bellion, and was so ready afterward to court the notice 
of William and to seek to prejudice his mind against 
the brave Presbyterians. 

Notwithstanding all these things, Ulster flourishes 
spiritually. The number of congregations constantly 
increases. New Presbyteries and Synods are forming. 
The Presbytery of Laggan has become the Synod of 
Laggan. More ministers are badly needed, but the 
Church in no degree lowers her standard of orthodoxy 
or of culture. The candidate must subscribe the Con- 
fession of Faith in every article. The Synod has just 
decided to enter no one on trials until he has studied 
divinity four years after completing his literary course. 
These are the people that trained and indoctrinated 

*Reid, ii. 489, etc. 



A. D. 1702.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMJE. 347 

our own pioneer. Mr. Makemie believes in the ex- 
ercise of great care in admitting men to the pulpit. 
In his Ansiver to Keith he thus speaks approvingly 
of the usage of our Church : 

" They firmly believe and strenuously hold a fixed and stand- 
ing ministry to be always in the church to the end of the world ; 
and churches to be furnished with all officers warranted in the 
Scriptures duly qualified and orderly set apart according to the 
Word of God. After a long and most strict examination and 
trial, some are allowed first to preach only as probationers or 
expectants for a proof of their preaching gifts and praying abil- 
ities and of a holy conversation ; and when called to the pastoral 
charge, submitting to a second examination, they are orderly set 
apart, or ordained, to the whole work of the ministry, according 
to the Apostle's phrase, by the imposition of the hands of the 
Presbytery." 

England and her allies have formally declared war 
against France. The Duke of Marlborough, Queen 
Anne's favorite, takes command on the Continent. 
Again we may expect the ravages of privateers and 
pirates along our coast. 

Meanwhile, Madam Tabitha Hill prosecutes her 
declaration of war against Mr. Makemie with a per- 
sistence unexcelled by that of the great Marlborough 
himself. She finally wins an apparent victory. On 
the 4th of March, while our king was upon his dying- 
bed, the executors of the Custis estate are non-suited 
in a case against John Stanton on the ground that they 
had not first asked the old lady's advice, according to 
the letter of the will. She is willing for the estate to 
suffer loss if she may thereby worry and defeat the 
Presbyterian preacher and his wife. On the 8th of 
April she herself brings suit against him, but fails to 
appear, lets it go by default and pays the cost. In 
the same court Mr. Makemie gains a suit against 



34^ THE DA YS OF MA REM IE. [A. D. 1702. 

William Jarman. The month before, a suit against 
the executors was dismissed. This litigation is not 
for himself, but officially, as executor. My father 
says that all this experience in court may be prepar- 
ing our minister for new conflicts for religious free- 
dom before judicial authorities in the days to come.* 

In October, jointly with Mr. Henry Jenkins, Mr. 
Makemie patents one hundred and fifty acres of land 
on Watts's Island, planting his possessions at the gate 
of Pocomoke Sound. Yonder, to the west, the island 
dimly rises in sight of his Accomack home. Over to 
the other side of him, he goes on building his mill at 
Assawaman, and thinks of the old water-mill near 
Ramelton around which his boyhood's steps used to 
play. 

Amid the bitter struggle of the Episcopal commis- 
sary Blair with the Episcopal governor Nicholson in 
Virginia, the former finds time this year to write : 

" There is a sort like Presbyterians here which is upheld by- 
some idle fellows that have left their lawful employment and 
preach and baptize without orders."! 

If the distressed commissary means the Presbyte- 
rians about Elizabeth River and in Accomack, and 
intends to apply the term " idle fellows " to Mr. Mackie 
and Mr. Makemie, certainly there was never a worse 
misnomer. The former works his plantation of one 
hundred and fifty acres near the Back Bay, superin- 
tends his store, takes care of his ** valuable stock of 
horses at the seaside," studies his " scholastic books 
of learned languages, as Latin, Greek, Hebrew,"J and 
preaches regularly at four registered places of public 

* For above facts see Accomack records. f Webster, p, 89. 
\ Mackie's will ; Sprague's Annals. 



A. D. 1702.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 349 

worship ; while Mr. Makemie, one of the most in- 
dustrious men in the province, successfully manages 
his own large property, settles the estates of others, 
conducts works of public improvement, writes books 
and proclaims the gospel everywhere. If the crime 
of these consecrated men be that no prelate's hands 
have ever rested upon their heads and they are there- 
fore "without orders," the commissary ought to re- 
member that his own clergy are now pressing— very 
inconveniently — the terrible charge of a want of epis- 
copal ordination in his own case. 

But it need do us no harm to know what our 
enemies think of us. Talbot, a missionary for the 
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign 
Parts, is just writing from Philadelphia: 

" The Presbyterians here come a great way to lay hands on 
one another ; but after all I think they had as good stay at home 
for all the good they do. In Philadelphia one pretends to be a 
Presbyterian and has a congregation to which he preaches."* 

Talbot and George Keith are now traveling through 
the colonies, zealous propagandists — the latter as vio- 
lent for Prelacy as formerly for Quakerism. The 
fiercest assaults of this proselyte are directed against 
his \ditQ friends, forcing himself upon their meetings, 
interrupting their worship and denouncing their prin- 
ciples to their face. On Long Island, by false charges, 
he secures the arrest and imprisonment of the Quaker 
preacher Samuel Bownas. The influence of governor 
and of judge is exerted in vain to obtain from the 
grand jury an indictment against Bownas. In his 
schemes Keith finds a worthy accomplice in the 
profligate governor.f 

* Gillett i. 20. t Bownas's Journal, in loco. 



350 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1702. 

Lord Cornbury is a cousin of Queen Anne, and a 
grandson of the famous Earl of Clarendon, the un- 
reliable historian and apologist of Stuart and Laudian 
tyranny. Openly immoral, bankrupt in property and 
reputation in England, flying from his creditors across 
the sea, made governor of New York and New Jersey, 
this outlawed spendthrift seems ambitious to prove 
himself the patron of the Churchmen, and they are 
glad to use him. Of meaner character and meaner 
abilities than our own Nicholson, he is a fit tool in 
the hands of the advocates of civil and ecclesiastical 
despotism. Until of late there has been toleration in 
New Jersey and New York ; but, under instructions 
from the queen. Episcopacy has just been established 
by Cornbury in the former, and he is determined to 
override the law and to force the yoke of subjection 
upon the necks of the Reformed Dutch and other Dis- 
senters in the latter province. And this notwithstand- 
ing the fact that his fellow-religionists are in a pitiable 
minority ! 

At Jamaica, Long Island, a church composed of 
Congregationalists and Presbyterians has been in ex- 
istence for about thirty years. They came from New 
England mostly, and brought with them the spirit of 
firm and conscientious dissent. Their ministers nearly 
all Congregationalists, the influence of Independency 
predominated. In many of these churches to the 
northward, under a necessary compromise, the two 
systems of Independency and Presbyterianism so 
shade into each other that it is hard to say where 
the one ends or the other begins. Any compromise 
is an adoption of the laxer system. The Dentons 
and others have always preferred Presbyterianism, and 



A. D. 1702.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 35^ 

two years ago the Jamaica church called Mr. Hub- 
bard, a classmate of Mr. Andrews, and voted that he 
should be ordained " in the Presbyterian way." Hence- 
forth we may hope for the church to come more fully 
into accord with our own (64). 

Our friends in Jamaica own a stone church worth 
six hundred pounds, and a parsonage and glebe worth 
fifteen hundred. Without any pretence of moral right 
to the property, the Episcopalians intrude and seize the 
church amid scenes most disgraceful. The governor 
encourages the outrage and prosecutes the real owners 
for resisting the trespass. Worse still, flying from the 
deadly malady now raging in New York, he takes 
refuge in Jamaica, and, finding the parsonage the 
most commodious dwelling there, he presumes to 
ask Mr. Hubbard to vacate it for his accommoda- 
tion. The minister generously submits to the incon- 
venience. Now follows the base treachery. When 
returning to New York, Cornbury deliberately de- 
frauds the man that befriends him, and hands over 
parsonage and glebe to the Church-party and their 
clergyman Bartow. 

A despicable character named Cardale— the sheriff 
—is the willing tool of Church and State in executing 
these iniquitous measures against Bownas and Hub- 
bard. If the " Venerable Society " countenances such 
crimes and permits its missionaries to be parties to 
them, it must redound to its lasting shame.* 

Will the heroic Keith, whose strictures upon Mr. 
Makemie's Catechism sneered at '' Prelate, Priest and 
Presbyter of the Pope's making," venture another 
visit to our minister at Pocomoke ? Bold in challeng- 

* McDonald's Jamaica Church, passim. 



352 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1702. 

ing, he has never answered our pastor's rejoinder. 
Now himself a priest in the regular succession, 
though near enough to us to look across the bay 
from his daughter's home at Kekoutan (Hampton), 
he does not seem anxious to encounter Mr. Make- 
mie again. 

My husband's peach trees, now coming into fra- 
grance and fruitage, remind me of Mr. Makemie's 
estimate of our country : 

" Here are spacious and flourishing orchards, replenished with 
fair and pleasant fruit, and will afford pleasant gardens by much 
less labor and expense than in Europe, furnished with whatever 
herbs, flowers and plants you are pleased to put into the 
ground." 

Our minister, interested in every step of improve- 
ment, shall have our first ripe peach. 

My father has been talking of perhaps the earliest 
historical mention of peaches in America. In an ac- 
count of a visit to the James River in 1633, the 
Dutch captain De Vries speaks thus of the home 
of Minifie, who had come to America ten years 
before : 

"Arrived at Littletown where Minifie lives. He has a garden 
of two acres full of primroses, apple, pear and cherry trees, the 
various fruits of England, with different kinds of sweet-smelling 
herbs, rosemary, sage, marjoram, thyme. Around the house 
were planted peach trees, which were hardly in bloom." * 

As far back as the year of our county's organization, 
thirty-seven years ago, a Mr. Barnabe made provision 
in his will for planting an orchard of two hundred 
fruit trees on his estate.f Nature's own wild crops 
of strawberries, whortleberries and grapes are fra- 
grant with suggestions of horticulture. 

* Neill's Founders of Maryland. f Somerset records. 



A. D. I702.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 353 

Amid the sweet flowers and fruits of the lower 
Eastern Shore, my Huguenot sister-in-law sings of 
Languedoc, but sings in sadness. In the Vincennes 
an arch-priest — Du Chailu — has been guilty of the 
most brutal enormities, torturing prisoners, flogging 
and mutilating children, killing young girls. The 
mountaineers, enraged by these atrocities, have risen 
in insurrection, killed the fiendish priest and demol- 
ished his castle. Cavalier, a brave young hero, has 
marshaled these bold Camisards, determined to con- 
quer or die, and the stories of their heroism stir the 
currents of Huguenot blood over here. Our Mar- 
garet has just been thrilling the Maryland air with 
one of the songs of her people. 

With the Toleration Act just legalized in Maryland, 
it seems a great wrong that the Catholics should be 
excepted from its benefits, — that the Baltimores, who 
ruled with such equal kindness to us all, must see their 
own religion alone proscribed. But when we remem- 
ber these long-continued barbarities in France and the 
rage of the Papists against the Protestants in Ireland 
while lately in power, it is no wonder that our author- 
ities are legislating against the importation of Irish 
Catholics and refuse to tolerate that faith which is 
still perpetrating its cruelties across the ocean. While 
we would persecute nobody, we fully indorse Mr. Ma- 
kemie's statement of the dislike of Presbyterians for 
that apostate Church : 

"They abhor, renounce, and abjure Popery, Idolatry, Supersti- 
tion and ^Heresy, with every error they are convinced and per- 
suaded is contrary to the Word of God ; universally believing 
the Popes of Rome to be the grand Antichrist."* 

* Truths in a True Light, 
23 



354 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1702. 

I must not forget to record, for our pastor's sake, 
the legal marriage-fee of five shillings just established 
by act of Assembly. 

William Bozman has been commissioned as our 
county ranger by Governor Blakiston, to take up ** and 
convert to the Ranger's own proper use " all wild 
horses, neat cattle and hogs wherever found. But 
there is another county ranger, who cares for no com- 
mission from Annapolis, passing at will from neigh- 
borhood to neighborhood and interfering recklessly 
with affairs civil and ecclesiastical. He comes with 
cadaverous mien from swamps and frog-ponds, and 
leaves his yellow brand upon the faces of judge and 
jury, and even upon the fresh complexion of Pastor Ma- 
kemie. This wild ranger is one of the worst persecu- 
tors of the times, the ruthless Eastern Shore ague and 
fever — whose fame is already making its way into verse : 

** With Cockerouse* as I was sitting, 
I felt a Fever Intermitting ; 
A fiery Pulse beat in my Veins, 
From Cold I felt resembling Pains : 
This horrid seasoning I remember 
Lasted from March to cold December; 
Nor would it then its Quarters shift 
Until by Cardus turn'd adrift. 
And had my Doctress wanted skill. 
Or Kitchen-Physic at her will, 
My Father's Son had lost his Lands, 
And never seen the Goodwin Sands. 
But thanks to Fortune and a Nurse 
Whose care depended on my Purse, 
I saw myself in good condition 
Without the help of a Physician. 
At length the shivering ill relieved, 
Which long my Head and Heart had grieved." f 
* A person of quality. f Sot- Weed Factor, published 1708. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 
A. D. 1703. 

" A Church without Discipline & Censure is like a Kingdom without 
Rule & Government." — Makemie. 

IN sight of our churches is constantly beheld the 
clearing of new lands — trees cut down, stumps on 
fire, roots digged out and piled for burning. Among 
these growing plantations, Mr. Makemie's similitude 
is well understood : 

" As the husbandman must hew down and grub up his field 
ere he can sow and reap the fruit of his labor, so must the sinner 
lay the axe of repentance to the root of his old sins if he would 
bring forth the fruits of righteousness in his life. Hosea x. 12 — 
' Sow to yourselves in righteousness and reap in mercy.' And 
how shall this be done ? ' Plough up your fallow ground.' 
Would you lead righteous or religious lives, you must return 
and fall foul of your old sins and spare them not ; but repent 
and turn from them. How necessary this pungent and heart- 
piercing repentance is to eternal life and salvation we are oft 
told. Luke xiii. 5. — ' Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise 
perish.' "* 

On this text he had preached in Ireland when 
twenty-one years younger. The voice, as the voice 
of the Forerunner, is still crying in the wilderness. 

After service, Mr. Makemie and my friend Naomi 
came home with us to the " little wigwam in the 
pines." Both of us mothers now, how we love to 

* New York sermon. 

855 



356 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1703. 

see her little Elizabeth and my own Francis playing 
together! (65). Francis shares with his playmate the 
store of hickory-nuts, chestnuts, walnuts and beech- 
nuts brought him by Daniel, King of the Poco- 
mokes. 

The "American desert" has bestowed upon Mr. Ma- 
kemie this home-treasure, little Betty, in return for his 
life's devotion to its material and spiritual cultivation. 
While living for the good of the children of thousands 
yet to be, God has finally given him a darling of his 
own to cheer his latter days as nothing else could do. 
It is very pleasant to hear these playmates exchanging 
quotations from her father's Catechism. From page 
ten sweet Betty recites as follows : 

" Christ revealeth the will of God to us by his Word and 
Spirit." 

My son replies from page eleven : 

" The Holy Spirit worketh faith in us and uniteth us to 
Christ." 

After a while she says from page twelve : 

" Effectual calling is a powerful call of God whereby he calls 
and draws sinners out of sin into grace." 

He answers from page sixteen : 

" Justification, adoption and sanctification once had, can never 
be wanted." 

She repeats from page thirty : 

" The godly cannot keep God's commands perfectly." 

He responds from page forty-one : 

" The Holy Spirit teaches us to pray aright and acceptably to 
God."* 

* Extracts from Catechism, found in Keith's strictures and Makemie's 
Answer. 



A. D. 1703.] THE DAYS OF MAKE MI E. 357 

Well does our pastor say in his reply to Keith : 

" The advantage of an early instruction is witnessed by the 
experiences of many godly in all ages, where attended with the 
blessing of God and pursued with exhortation until they arrive at 
a riper age." 

Again we think of the " experience " of the boy- 
convert on the hills of Donegal. 

Of his Catechism, Mr. Makemie says : 

"After it was first composed, I did compendize and abbreviate 
it, oftener than once, to suit it to the capacities of such for whom 
it was prepared, even young ones." 

In those days he little knew that it was finally to be 
tested in a household of his own, by his own " young 
ones " — the best test of all good preaching. 

We have been laughing at Naomi about the conduct 
of clergymen's wives down in Virginia. Rev. Mr. Col- 
lier, now rector of Hungar's Parish, is married to a 
widow who had previously assaulted somebody in 
church, and who has lately been presented to court 
for cursing and swearing.* 

" Put it down in your journal," says my father, " as 
a comment upon American tithes and glebes." 

Our busy pastor is beginning to talk of a visit to 
Europe for the purpose of awakening an interest 
there in our needy fields and securing more ministers. 
Mr. Davis is living at Lewes, leaving this entire broad 
county dependent upon Mr. Makemie. Who is to 
take his place when he departs or dies? 

Missionaries of the "Venerable Society" are still 
arriving. Talbot and Keith are making their journeys 
from New Hampshire to Currituck, bold and aggress- 

* Bishop Meade's Old Churches, i. 258. 



358 THE DAYS OF MA REM IE, [A. D. 1703. 

ive everywhere. The latter passes up and down our 
Western Shore, but pays no more visits to the " Poc- 
camok." Quakers are his favorite game. 

" I have baptized several persons," says Talbot, 
"whom Mr. Keith has brought over from Quakerism." 

With his old fellow-Broadbrims, there is war all 
along the lines. 

Keith speaks of the courtesy of the New England 
Independents, meeting them at the commencement 
at Cambridge, preaching frequently in their churches 
and seeming to interpret their courtesy as indicative 
of leanings to his Church. From Philadelphia he 
writes : 

" They have here a Presbyterian meeting and a minister, one 
called Andrews ; but they are not like to increase here." 

The future will test the prophecy. 

Keith is flattering profligate Lord Cornbury. He 
preaches before him at Burlington, compliments him, 
and finds the godless governor as enthusiastic for 
Episcopacy as himself* A delegation of Churchmen 
from Philadelphia wait upon Cornbury, laud his zeal 
and express the amiable hope that his good cousin 
the queen may be induced to extend over them the 
aegis of his beneficent government. They say that 
they are longing ** to enjoy the same blessings others 
do under his authority " ! He comes to Philadelphia 
and encourages these demonstrations. William Penn 
is so disgusted with the turbulent spirits that he begs 
the Lords of Trade to buy him out or let him buy out 
" the hot Church-party." f 

* Keith's Journal. 

f Anderson's Colonial Church ; Webster, Gillett and Bishop Hawks, 
in loco. 



A. D. 1703.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 359 

The desire expressed by Philadelphia Churchmen to 
enjoy the same blessings which others do under Corn- 
bury's authority is illustrated by his persistent ill-treat- 
ment of our people and their minister at Jamaica. Thank- 
ing Bartow for his riotous intrusion into our church, 
he pursues Mr. Hubbard with every harassing device 
whenever the latter attempts to recover legal posses- 
sion of the property wrung so wickedly out of his 
hands. Do these Pennsylvania petitioners desire to 
see the same course pursued toward Mr. Hubbard's 
classmate, Andrews ? The disgraceful immoralities 
of the flattered Cornbury throw a lurid light over 
these proceedings. 

I wish all this were otherwise. In that Church are 
many noble men and women, and their Articles of Re- 
ligion are pure and Scriptural. Says Mr. Makemie : 

" We agree in all points of faith and Divine ordinances or parts 
of worship, with the Established Church of England, and are the 
likest to them of any Protestants, differing only in ceremonies, 
government and discipline. We are Protestant brethren and in 
unity with them in the great and substantial points of Christian 
and Protestant religion ; and therefore not to be treated as many 
ignorantly do. Of all Protestants that differ with them, we differ 
in the least and smallest matters." * 

It is deplorable when bad men gain the ascendency 
in Church and State and give their evil tempers the 
name of Christian zeal. There is an especial absurd- 
ity in being unchurched by the drunken and the licen- 
tious. This year an immoral clergyman, driven from 
Virginia by Commissary Blair because of baseness of 
character, secures one of the best parishes in Mary- 
land, and comes into possession of one of the largest 
parochial libraries sent over by Dr. Bray. The pre- 

* Tf'uths in a True Light. 



360 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1703. 

cautions taken by the commissary in the Visitation 
held by him at AnnapoHs in the year 1700 have 
never been enforced, and the irregularities are grow- 
ing worse.* 

Says the Episcopal missionary Talbot : 

" We want a great many good ministers here in America, but 
we had better have none at all than such scandalous beasts as 
some make themselves, not only the worst of ministers but of 
men." f 

Dr. Bray will not return to America. We are sorry ; 
for though privy to one great wrong in trying by his 
law of 1700 to foist his ceremonials upon the churches 
of Dissenters, yet he had many noble traits and earn- 
estly desired the purifying of his Church. His en- 
deavors have fixed the Establishment upon us, and we 
have a right to demand that he will labor to correct 
its scandals. For cleansing the Augean stable, which 
he found too heavy a task for himself, he seeks the ap- 
pointment of another commissary. In our own county 
we have a monument of Bray's zeal for parochial libra- 
ries — Snow Hill Parish, ten volumes ; Somerset Par- 
ish, twenty ; Coventry, twenty-five ; and Stepney, six- 
ty .J Was the gift to the latter larger because of its 
being named for the great Stepney Parish of Lon- 
don? 

In the face of the prevalent corruptions in clerical 
ranks, we are very proud of the unsullied fame of our 
Makemie. Not one calumny taints his good name. 
This is the more remarkable when we think of his 
wide activities as a business-man as well as a minister, 
bringing him into contact with so many clashing in- 

* Bishop Hawks's Maryland, p. 121. f Gillett, i, 22. 

^^Neill's Fotmders of Maryland, p. 173. 



A. D. 1703.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 36 1 

terests. Even the vigilant Madam Tabitha Hill can 
find no flaw in him. 

Such a minister can stand in the pulpit unabashed 
and plead against the laxness of the times with open 
brow: 

"As kings and princes have their laws for government in their 
several dominions, and a power lodged in the hands of particu- 
lar persons specially qualified for executing such laws, so our 
Lord Jesus has prescribed spiritual laws and constituted a suit- 
able government and spiritual rule in his Church, intrusted to 
particular persons, to be duly executed upon offenders ; and this 
discipline is to be employed about such as are within, and not 
without, the visible churches. This government or discipline is 
specially distinct from the secular power and is called the power 
of the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. 

" This spiritual rule and government is appointed by our Lord 
Jesus, not only for reclaiming irregular and offending brethren, 
but for deterring others from the like offenses, and also for purg- 
ing out that corrupt and sinful leaven that, if not taken away, 
will defile the whole lump. Such proceedings with dehnquents 
are not to punish their bodies or mulct their estates, but for af- 
flicting the conscience of offenders by censure and conviction, 
according to the nature or demerit and circumstances of their 
crimes. Where this watching, admonishing, and censuring and 
suspending power of discipline is impartially and jealously ex- 
ercised, it prevents a multitude of irregularities which would 
scandalize Christian Societies."^ 

Thus, with Bible in hand, our pioneer plants the 
principle of a pure discipline in the same furrows 
where he is planting the American Presbyterian 
Church. 

In February there comes a tardy report from the 
Accomack court — asked eighteen months ago — set- 
ting apart to Mr. Makemie, according to act of the 
Virginia Assembly of 1667, an acre of ground for 
the water-mill at Assawaman, a sister to the mill at 

*New York sermon. 



362 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1703. 

Rehoboth and to the old mill at Ramelton. This 
achievement of his enterprise will be of permanent 
benefit to all that region.* John and William Laws 
have just deeded to our pastor two hundred acres of 
land on the southern branch of Forked Neck. Thus 
the founder of our church roots himself more firmly 
to the Virginia soil. 

Our pastor is preparing for his European trip. On 
the 1st of August he executes and puts upon record a 
power of attorney to his wife, Naomi and her cousin 
John Parker, for the management of both his own 
property and the Custis estate. It would be strange 
if there were not a longing now and then in this warm 
heart for a sight of the familiar scenes and the loved 
faces over the sea. Who can tell how often during 
his journeyings of the last twenty years our Paul has 
yearned " toward his brethren, his kinsmen according 
to the flesh"? 

Had our minister embarked according to expecta- 
tion, he might have encountered at sea that terrific 
tempest which in November sweeps the British Isles 
with consternation and strews their shores with wrecks. 
** Not to be paralleled," says Evelyn, " with anything 
happening in our age." To foreign courts Marl- 
borough speaks of the storm as a grievous national 
calamity.f 

But Mr. Makemie would have found a storm scarce- 
ly less violent raging in the political and ecclesiastical 
world. The nations of Europe are marshaling for war. 
In the Cevennes young Cavalier and his heroic Cam- 
isards are winning immortal renown — sharp thorns in 

*The Assawaman and Rehoboth mills are still running (1884). 
f Knight, V. 126. vSo with allusions following. 



A. D. 1703.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 363 

the side of the arch-persecutor of France at such a 
time. In Scotland there is strong feehng against the 
Enghsh government. Queen Anne is becoming more 
unpopular with the Presbyterians. While their Gen- 
eral Assembly has been asserting its privileges and re- 
minding the queen that the Reformation from Popery 
was effected by Presbyters, that Prelacy has always 
been an intolerable grievance, and that Presbyterian- 
ism henceforth must rule, the Assembly has been sud- 
denly dissolved in the name of Her Majesty. The 
prelatic party recklessly show their delight, parade the 
former rancor, try to avoid the oath of allegiance and 
begin again the game of intrusion into our churches. 
Scotch spirit is aroused. Parliament takes up the 
matter, passes an act in defence of Presbyterianism in 
the very words for which the Assembly was dissolved, 
and proceeds to guard more strenuously the independ- 
ence of kingdom and Church against outside dicta- 
tion. This is an eloquent hint to the queen and her 
advisers.* 

In his native kingdom our pastor would have met 
the increasing encroachments of Prelacy. Bishop 
King — now made Archbishop of Dublin — will have 
greater power for evil. This man, who pronounced 
the patriotic defence of Londonderry rank rebellion, 
advocated passive obedience and warmly welcomed 
James to Dublin, now has the effrontery to charge 
the Presbyterians with Jacobitism ! f 

There has been even greater excitement in England. 

On the question of Occasional Conformity, upon which 

they were beaten before, the High Churchmen are 

again wild. While the country moves forward into 

* Hetherington, in loco. f Reid, ii. 498, etc. 



3^4 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1703. 

a tremendous war, these factionists rend and tear the 
nation in the rear. Of the outrageous turmoil Jona- 
than Swift writes in caustic humor: 

" It was so universal that I observed the dogs in the streets 
much more contumehous and quarrelsome than usual ; and the 
very night before the Bill went up, a committee of Whig and 
Tory cats had a very warm and loud debate upon the roof of our 
house. But why should we wonder at that, when the very ladies 
are split asunder into High Church and Low, and out of zeal for 
religion have hardly time to say their prayers ?" 

If during these hot conflicts our minister had gone 
down into Lincolnshire, to the rectory of Epworth, he 
would have found upon the bosom of Samuel and 
Susanna Wesley a great-grandson of one of the 
ejected ministers of 1662; and the name of the new- 
born babe is John Wesley. 

But Mr. Makemie will not this year encounter the 
storms of Europe nor listen to the quarrels of Dean 
Swift's dogs and cats. Before he can start, his mother- 
in-law begins to decline, and before winter the old lady 
has parted from all her finery and is no more. She 
was not Naomi's own mother, but came into the family 
when Naomi was only ten years old. Mr. Anderson 
had requested " Son Makemie " and Naomi to be 
" kind and assisting " to the aged widow, and in her 
feebleness of mind and body their kindness was 
needed. 

In her nuncupative will, proved in court in Novem- 
ber, Mrs. Anderson bequeaths all her wearing-apparel 
and other property to be divided between Betty Ma- 
kemie and Betty Taylor, the two young cousins. Her 
own blood-kin are passed over for the sake of her hus- 
band's grandchildren. About this there has been much 



\ 



A. D. 1703.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 365 

talk. In her inventory made in December we find ten 
gold rings, gold buckles, silver clasps, amber neck- 
laces, nine hoods, nine headdresses, six caps and six 
night-caps ; eleven gowns, some of them of very rich 
silk and costly ; twenty-two petticoats, a number of 
these of expensive silk and lace ; twenty-seven fore- 
head cloths, six waistcoats, eighteen aprons, eight 
pairs of ruffles, besides bodices, scarfs, stomachers, 
gloves, pinners, stockings, handkerchiefs and a parcel 
of paint. The two Bettys will be well clad for some 
time to come. They do not need the paint ! 

This brings Mr. Makemie an increase of legal busi- 
ness. On the 8th of December he petitions for an 
appraisement of Mrs. Anderson's property, and also 
of that of Mr. Custis. No possibility is to be left 
by which the Argus-eyes of Madam Tabitha can 
find him tripping. On the 17th he and Elias Taylor 
petition for administration on Mrs. Anderson's estate. 

Mrs. Anderson sleeps by the side of her husband in 
the family burying-ground, near the homestead, not far 
from the little serpentine creek which half a mile away 
flows into Pocomoke Sound. This same year Priscilla 
Layfield becomes a widow and another justice of our 
court is interred near Colonel Stevens on the Reho- 
both plantation. These ought to be famous grave- 
yards in the far-away days to come. Speaking of 
the time when all these tombs must open again, Mr. 
Makemie says : 

" It will not be inquired, What faith you professed ; What per- 
suasion and opinion you were of; To what Society did you be- 
long? But, What have you done? What lives have you led? 
Were they ordered aright according to God's will?"^ 

* New York sermon. 



CHAPTER XXV. 
A. D. 1704. 

" From many Years' Experience in America, and particularly in 
Virginia and Maryland." — Makemie. 

ON crossing the ferry you will notice that all the 
roads converging thither are indicated by three 
notches, at equal distances from one another, upon the 
trees along the highway. Turning toward the court- 
house at Dividing Creek, you will find the trees on 
both sides of the road marked with two notches near 
together and another notch at a wider interval. Roads 
to parish churches are marked by a slip on the sides of 
the trees, near the ground. All this is prescribed by 
provincial statute. No municipal law points the wor- 
shiper to Presbyterian churches, but the divine law is 
clear enough, and we find our way without help from 
Annapolis.* 

The Legislature has also established our legal rate 
of interest at six per cent. With tobacco and pork for 
currency, we must calculate our interest upon the sot- 
weed and swines' flesh. Mr. Makemie, urging to other 
forms of enterprise, writes : 

" We are, both in ourselves and by increasing the number of 

our servants and slaves, so growing a people, that our planting, 

or tobacco-trade, of Virginia and Maryland is overdone, and all 

Markets cannot consume the quantity ; so that tobacco-trade 

* Enactments of Assembly of 1704. So, too, the following. 

366 



A. D. 1704.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 367 

seems to be ruined both as to the planter, purchaser, adventurer 
and factor. Therefore an absohite necessity for faUing off the 
excessive part of tobacco-making and falhng upon something 
else. Our present war is such a bar to trade ; and if we should 
enjoy a Peace, we know not how soon we may have another war 
more injurious." ^ 

The legal toll at the mills is set at one-sixth for 
Indian corn and one-eighth for wheat. So runs the 
hopper at Rehoboth. Again our minister protests 
against the bad management by which both the coin 
and the wheat are carried off: 

" Our neighbors drain from us the marrow of our estates ; for 
Carolina, Barbadoes, Pennsylvania, New York and New England 
carry from us the little scattered coin we have among us. They 
buy up our old iron, brass, copper, pewter, hides and tallow, 
which we often want and might use ourselves. They carry away 
our wheat and return it again to us in bread and flour, and make 
us pay for transporting, grinding, bolting and baking. But, 
which is worst of all, they prey upon that little money we have 
in England by purchasing bills of exchange." f 

On Irish servants the toll is higher than on corn or 
wheat, being one pound sterling per poll on every 
Papist immigrant. The Assembly increases its rigor 
against the Catholics. A fine of fifty pounds and 
imprisonment for six months have been imposed 
upon any 

" Popish Bishop, Priest or Jesuit who shall baptize any child or 
children other than such who have Popish parents ; or shall say 
mass, or exercise the functions of a Popish Bishop or Priest with- 
in this province ; or shall endeavor to persuade any of her Maj- 
esty's Hege people of this province to embrace and be reconciled 
to the Church of Rome." 

After being once convicted, if any Popish bishop, 
priest or Jesuit shall say mass or exercise any function 

* Plain and Friendly Perswadve. t Ibid. 



368 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1704. 

of a priest within the province, or if any persons pro- 
fessing to be of that Church shall keep school or take 
upon themselves the education, government or boarding 
of youth at any place in the province, all such shall, on 
conviction, be sent to England to endure the penalties 
there in force against that Church. Worse still, if any 
child of Popish parents claims to be a Protestant, the 
law compels the parents to make separate provision 
for the support of the child.* Although this is but 
a mild return for the persecutions of Rome, it does 
not seem to me right. My father says boldly : 

" It is an odious law. It puts a stain upon Maryland. Where 
Popery tolerated Prelacy, Prelacy persecutes Popery. It is im- 
possible to conceive of a statute more iniquitous than one that 
offers a premium for the disobedience and hypocrisy of an un- 
filial child." t 

The injustice of the laws against the Papists is 
somewhat mitigated by permission given the priests 
to officiate in private families of their own communion. 
They are taking advantage of this provision by build- 
ing little chapels as additions to private dwellings. 

This year the State-House burns down — not much 
matter if the zeal of the Assembly is to be chiefly ex- 
pended in pampering the Establishment and oppress- 
ing those who are out of its pale. It seems to be a 
year of fires. At Williamsburg the College of William 
and Mary, where the Virginia Assembly has been hold- 
ing its sessions, has also been burnt. 

As my father's accountant, let me record some of 
the prices now paid in the line of family expenses : 
Beef, one halfpenny per pound ; making a coat, three 

* Bacon's Laws of Maryland 1^04, ch. xcv. 
t Hawks's Maryland, '^. 126. 



A. D. 1704.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 369 

shillings six pence ; fifteen gallons of cider at one-half 
bushel of Indian meal per gallon. At the little wig- 
wam in the pines, as in most of the families, we use 
cider instead of coffee and tea. This reminds me of 
the hero of the Sot- Weed Factor : 

" Presently amongst the rest 
He placed his unknown English Guest, 
Who found them drinking for a whet 
A Cask of Syder on the Fret, 
Till Supper came upon the Table, 
On which I fed whilst I was able. 
So after hearty Entertainment 
Of Drink and Victuals without Payment; 
For Planters' Tables, you must know, 
Are free for all that come or go ; 
While Pone and Milk, with Mush well-stored, 
In Wooden Dishes graced the board ; 
With Hominy and Syder-pap "^ 
(Which scarce a hungry dog would lap) 
Well-stuffed with Fat from Bacon fried, 
Or with Mollossus dulcified." 

Now comes along Mr. Makemie's sloop Tabitha, 
and we sell our pork at two pence per pound, our 
corn at twenty pence per bushel, our wheat at fifty- 
pence ; and we lay in a supply of sugar — a great lux- 
ury — at nine pence per pound.f 

This being Saturday, and the Tabitha being on her 
down-trip, William, I and the little Francis are taken 
on board with the promise of hearing a Virginia ser- 
mon to-morrow. Every sermon is precious now, for 
Mr. Makemie is soon to depart upon his Transatlantic 
trip. On the 30th of May he executed a power of 

* Food made of small hominy and cider. 

f Prices from Somerset records — without mention of Makemie, how- 
ever. 

24 



370 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1704. 

attorney to his wife and Andrew Hamilton and James 
Kemp for the management of all his business, includ- 
ing that of the Custis estate and the care of the Cus- 
tis children. " Being bound in a designed voyage for 
Europe," says the recorded document. The cry for 
laborers is loud around us, and, notwithstanding his 
disappointment last year, his purpose remains un- 
changed. 

Beating down the placid Pocomoke sails the Tabi- 
tha, her wings filled with the breezes of June. Spark- 
ling, dashing, cheerily saluting, the quick kingfisher 
plies his vocation along our way, while the hovering 
fish-hawk wages his warfare against the finny tribe. 
The Jenkinses wave their handkerchiefs to their min- 
ister's sloop as she passes, and the Whites — to whom 
Colonel Stevens gave his Cedar Hall plantation — hail 
us presently from the other side. As we leave the shell- 
banks of the natives upon the right and wind out to 
the sound, the canoes of the Maryland Indians, head- 
ed by Morumsco James, and the canoes of the Acco- 
mack tribe, headed by Matahocka, are taking oysters 
to the right and the left (66). These rival claimants 
are the probable forerunners of other contestants in 
the future. 

The Tabitha turns away from the open sea into the 
mouth of Houlston's Creek, seeming to know the way 
home. To the right stands the two-storied house 
covered with cypress shingles. In the green yard 
which stretches down to the shore, his brown hair 
made golden by the rays of the setting sun, sits our 
pastor thinking of his Sabbath sermon and watching 
the play of his two little girls upon the grass at his 
feet. The second pet, Baby Anne, is but a wee one, 



A. D. 1704.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 3/1 

named for the pioneer's favorite sister, whom he is ex- 
pecting soon to see in the home at Ramelton. Betty, 
the older, very dignified in her silk dress inherited from 
the wardrobe of Madam Anderson, is anxious to teach 
the baby an answer from page twelve of her father's 
Catechism — 

*' God in turning or calling sinners unto himself, does convince 
them of sin and misery, enlighten their minds with the knowl- 
edge of Christ, renews their will" 

— but the teacher herself breaks down and has to be- 
gin it all again. The wide ocean will soon be rolling 
between the father and his little daughters. 

Mr. Makemie welcomes us in his own hospitable 
way, and seems delighted with the cargo of Presby- 
terian guests which the Tabitha has brought him. 
We are ushered into the hall-chamber.* It has its 
old comfortable look — kept very nearly as left by Mr. 
Anderson, who was anxious that this should remain 
the memorial family mansion. There are the old olive 
chest of drawers and the two cabinets, also a chest and 
trunk and a small iron hearth with a pair of brass 
andirons, a pair of firedogs and one brass shovel and 
tongs ; seven chairs, a bed nicely furnished, and a mat- 
ting in front of it. Otherwise the floor is uncarpeted, 
according to our custom. In the proper receptacles 
are seventeen pieces of earthenware, eleven pairs of 
sheets, over three dozen napkins, six damask towels 
and ten tablecloths, damask, diaper and huckaback. 
Naomi gave me a look into these abundant supplies. 
The two windows are curtained. Over the table hangs 
a looking-glass ; in another place are two statuettes, and 

* Names of rooms and their furniture taken from inventory in the 
Accomack records. 



372 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE, [A. D. 1704. 

on the wall is a picture of King William and Queen 
Mary. Through their royal influence alone is our min- 
ister able under sanctions of law to preach on his land 
and in his own dwelling-house. I see no portraits of 
the Stuarts. 

Soon Naomi invites us out to supper. In this din- 
ing-room are three oval tables, one of them quite large, 
also a square one. There are thirteen cane chairs, a 
couch and a chest of drawers. In sight are a punch- 
bowl, a syllabub-pot, a crewet, two teapots, a case of 
agate knives and spoons, two tea-servers, a dozen cups 
and a case of bottles ; also, on the wall, a looking-glass, 
three small pictures and four maps. Here, too, are a 
watch and a fiddle with its case. Standing about the 
table are Indian Peter and the negro slaves Old Dollar 
and Young Hannah. One of these plies the brush to 
keep the flies and the mosquitoes away. At the ap- 
pointed time another slave — Vulcan — comes from his 
fires of hickory, and brings the oysters roasted in their 
shells. We feast also upon West India dainties — con- 
tributions from Barbadoes to the larder of our Pres- 
byterian missionary, merchant and navigator. 

After supper we sit cozily in what is known as " Mrs. 
Makemie's room " until the hour of retiring. Here 
are another olive chest of drawers, two sealskin 
trunks, a cupboard and a bed furnished and curtained. 
On the windows are green curtains, and on the floor 
are two rugs, one green, the other speckled. For 
some time green has been the prevailing color in the 
fashions of the day. This room is the sacred inner 
enclosure of the preacher's home. Here he plans 
his work for America, and here he rests from his 
long absences. Wife and little ones gathered about 



A. D. 1704.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 373 

him, he devises the eternal elevation of the wives and 
children of a future empire. How plain the family- room ! 
In these Scotch-Irish families the Sabbath seems to 
begin before Saturday is done. To-night we all feel 
that the holy day is at hand. Religious themes are 
the subject of conversation, mind and heart turned 
toward God. In the moonlight a mocking-bird is 
singing in the trees, full of the coming dawn. I am 
glad to hear William asking Mr. Makemie about the 
difference between the Quaker doctrines of perfection 
and the presence of Christ within his people, and the 
true Scripture doctrine. He answers : 

"All of us firmly believe that unless the Spirit of Christ be in 
us we are none of his, and Christ is in us except we be reprobate, 
and he dwells in us believers. But from Paul's words it is by 
faith — Ephes. iii. 17; as I declared and that fully from the text. 
Col. i. 27, Christ in you the hope of glory. It is no contradiction 
to affirm and believe that God hath called sinners out of sin unto 
grace, yet at the same time to feel and assert that all have re- 
maining sin in them ; for it is no hard matter to distinguish be- 
twixt sinners being under the power, dominion and slavery or 
drudgery of sin, and a sinner's having some relicts and remain- 
ders of sin and corruption in them, whereby even in believers 
there is a constant and spiritual warfare raised in the believing 
soul. Whereas formerly the strong man kept the house, the 
Apostle gives us this distinction — Sin shall not have dominion 
over you ; you are not under law but under grace. And the 
same Apostle, even after conversion, complains of his own sin- 
fully-wretched corruption and at the same time triumphs in the 
victory, for in the next breath he cries, Thanks be to God who 
has given us the victory. If sin in some measure be not cotem- 
porary with saving grace or conversion, what must become of 
Quakers' universal, sufficient and saving grace ? And all the 
multitudes of them I have ever seen must according to their own 
opinion be void of conversion, grace, and justification, for sin has 
been easily discernible in all ; neither did ever any of them pro- 
duce one instance of this absolute perfection." * 
* Answer to Keith. 



374 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1704. 

William remarked with a smile, 

" This is the crucial test for perfectionists of every 
age. 

We learn that Mr. Makemie's old Quaker opponent 
— now the redoubtable prelatic champion — is just go- 
ing back to Europe. For three years Keith has been 
the sturdiest and most successful advocate Episcopa- 
cy has ever had in America, doing more to plant the 
Church of England to the north of us than any other 
man. If while yet a Quaker enthusiast he had the 
** immediate, extraordinary and apostolic call," which 
he boasted in this very house, and if at that time he 
had attained to perfection, what is the present type of 
call and perfection, now that he is sixty-six years old 
and in another apostolic succession ? 

After worship, with the usual catechising, we retire 
to the guest-chamber. Here are two beds, neatly fur- 
nished with bolsters, pillows, a linen bedspread and a 
suit of linen curtains. There are also a pair of brass 
dogs and a pair of brass andirons. On the wall hangs 
a looking-glass. There are no carpets anywhere, but 
all is snug and tidy. 

I may as well speak now of the rest of the house. 
Besides that which has already been described, there is 
also what is called the "green chamber," with furnished 
bed and a looking-glass. They have, too, a garret 
with two beds — one quite old — a trunk, eleven horn- 
hafted knives, a mat, fifty feet of glass, whole and 
broken, a jug and a lantern, eleven shoe-lasts, a small 
case of shoemakers' tools, and twenty hogsheads of 
tobacco. 

Running back of the house is a large shed-room, 
among whose varied contents I noted the following : a 



A. D. 1704.] THE DAYS OF MAKE M IE. 375 

small physic-case, a box of surgeons' instruments, an 
old warming-pan, two chafing-dishes, four brass can- 
dlesticks, three guns, a bed all furnished, one bell- 
metal mortar, four bolting-cloths, two gauging-rods, 
a scimeter, an old barbers' case with three razors, a 
little looking-glass and basin, a brass sundial, two 
burning-glasses and a tinder-box, a half-hour glass, a 
ship's compass, pewter dishes and plates, spinning- 
wheels and a loom and weavers' gears, and many 
more articles which I lack space to mention. 

Near by is the store, the largest for many miles, 
with its ample supplies of groceries and hardware 
and a few drygoods. 

Nor must I forget the library of eight hundred and 
ninety-six volumes — English, Latin, Greek and He- 
brew, theological, miscellaneous and law-books — all in 
good condition, besides a lot of old volumes with 
broken backs or in paper binding. This is a great 
change since 1685, when as a lonely wanderer in 
Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas he had to borrow 
books from Increase Mather, all the way from Boston, 
which were frequently lost in the transmission. 

Since 1699 this house has been recorded as a 
licensed place of public worship under the Toleration 
Act of the king and the queen whose portraits look 
down from the wall in the hall-chamber upon the 
assembled congregation. Hither come the Taylors, 
Hamiltons, Littletons, Brittinghams, Parkers, Fookses, 
Custises, Poulsons, Middletons, Hopes, Sanfords, Jol- 
lies, Kemps, Robinsons, Barrets, Boggses, Wises, Cor- 
bins, and others of Mr. Makemie's friends and neigh- 
bors ; for this brave Dissenter has many warm friends 
even in the Established Church. 



376 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1704. 

Seated apart, with white eyes and sable faces, is 
another portion of the audience, men and women 
and children, waiting to hear the gospel from the 
lips of their honored master — Dollar, Scipio, Vulcan, 
Frank, Toby, Harry, Jack the Cripple, Sambo, Dick, 
Sandy, Old Jack, Old Nan, Young Nan, Tobia, Betty, 
Guy, Johnny, Mollie, Minger, Robert, Rose, Peggy, 
Kate, Anne, Old Hannah, Young Hannah, Dorcas, 
Sarah, George, Adam, Sue, Robin and Benoni.* These 
thirty-three slaves, with others from adjoining planta- 
tions, form an interesting congregation to be trained 
for the heavenly Master. Nor are faces of the aborig- 
ines wanting to remind us in whose land we are wor- 
shiping the God of the whole earth. 

It is sad to think of the unfortunate illustrations of 
Christianity afforded the red and the black races by its 
professed adherents. Mr. Makemie well says : 

" How natural it is for apostate man to follow the multitude to 
do evil ! ' Evil communications corrupt good manners.' Was 
it not from repeated evil examples that Joseph learned to swear 
by the life of Pharaoh ? It is a hard thing to lead righteous lives 
in the midst of multiplied and repeated evil precedents ; as it is 
to touch pitch and not be defiled therewith, or to put coals into 
our bosoms and not be burnt therewith. Lot found it no easy- 
matter to maintain his righteousness in the midst of an unright- 
eous Sodom. Therefore when rulers and magistrates give evil 
example, who by their office and power should be a terror only 
to evil doers, it is no wonder to see people trace their evil steps. 
When such as the leaders and guides of souls go astray, well 
may the flock wander. When parents and masters cast daily an 
evil copy, must it not affect or rather infect their children and 
servants ?" f 

In the evening we see Elizabeth, with Baby Anne in 

* These names are from the inventory on the Accomack records. 
f New York sermon. 



A. D. 1704.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. ^yj 

her arms, teaching their father's Catechism to the Ht- 
tle dark Tobies, Robins, Adams, Peggies, Rosies and 
Amies. Slavery was introduced into Virginia eighty- 
five years ago, a Dutch man-of-war selHng twenty 
negroes to the settlers at Jamestown in 16 19. Now 
there are about sixteen thousand in the colony. The 
first in Maryland was brought over by Father White, 
the Jesuit, in 1635 — a mulatto named Francisco. 
They now number four thousand four hundred and 
seventy-five. Few hesitate to buy these pagans. 
Even William Penn is a slaveholder. 

We return home, and our pastor is seen at Rehoboth 
no more. Mr. Samuel Davis, at Lewes, where he has 
gone into business, and Mr, John Wilson, at New Cas- 
tle, where he has preached many years, are the only 
Presbyterian ministers left on the Peninsula. Mr. 
Andrews and his small flock in Philadelphia have 
begun to build a little church on Market street, be- 
tween Second and Third. Lord Cornbury is still 
trying to force Episcopacy upon the Dissenters of 
Long Island. The Rev. John Thomas, just transferred 
thither from Philadelphia, writes : 

" The country is exceedingly attached to a Dissenting ministry, 
and were it not for His Excellency my Lord Cornbury's most 
favorable countenance to us, we might expect the severest en- 
tertainment here. I have scarcely a man in the parish real and 
steady to the interest and promotion of the church any further 
than they aim at the favor or dread the displeasure of his Lord- 
ship. The people are all stiff Dissenters ; not above three 
church-people in the whole parish [Hempstead]. If it had not 
been for the countenance and support of Lord Cornbury and 
his government, it would have been impossible to have settled 
a church on the island."* 

Thus the fugitive debtor and debauchee is lauded as 

* Webster, p. 87. 



37 8 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1704. 

the patron of Prelacy, and still endeavors to thrust it 
down the throats of an unwilling people. 

In our own county the Rev. Alexander Adams has 
just taken charge of Stepney Parish.* We are not 
very pleasantly impressed. 

The spring brought us a new governor in the per- 
son of John Seymour, who seems not so much dis- 
posed as were some of his predecessors to make the 
Episcopal Church the pet of the government. Before 
Mr. Seymour left England, Dr. Bray, late commissary, 
attempted to obtain possession of him, introducing a 
Rev. Archdeacon Hewetson of Ireland, and seeking 
to secure for the latter, as commissary, the additional 
office of the judgeship in testamentary cases with a 
salary of three thousand pounds. A handsome endow- 
ment indeed of wealth and dignity ! The governor, 
positively refused, and Dr. Bray talks bitterly of 
rude treatment to himself and to the disappointed 
archdeacon, t So the pampered Church is ever 
grasping. 

Failing in his modest demand upon the new gov- 
ernor, Dr. Bray writes to the speaker of our Assem- 
bly, urging that the Legislature set apart one of the 
best parishes for a suffi-agan, to be appointed by the 
Bishop of London, and asking that they build a house 
on it and stock the glebe with twenty cattle, twenty 
hogs and ten negroes ! To make the ecclesiastic as 
independent in his palace as possible, he would put 
this high dignitary over on our Eastern Shore with 
the broad bay flowing between him and the governor. 
Seymour declares that he will have no commissary in 

*Neiirs Terra Marice, p, 190. 

f Bishop Hawks, p. 124; Neill's Founders of Maryland, p. 174. 



A. D. 1704.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE, 379 

the province. By this time he has seen enough of the 
character of the Maryland clergy to put him wholly 
out of patience with them. Their morals grow worse 
and worse, the efforts made by Dr. Bray in the Visita- 
tion of the year 1700 having proved utterly abortive, 
and that failure having apparently instigated to more 
brazen corruptions. "A Maryland parson " is becom- 
ing a term of humiliating reproach — a synonym for 
extreme insolence and immorality.* 

My twelve-year-old friend of 1680, now thirty-six, 
is getting to be quite a business-woman. Acting 
under power of attorney given by her husband, 
Naomi has already had one case in court, being 
sued on the 4th of December by John Custis for 
twenty-three pounds three shillings ninepence. Mrs. 
Makemie and Mr. James Kemp confess judgment, and 
will recover the amount from John Haskins, by whom 
the debt is really owed. 

We think of Mr. Makemie tossing upon the Atlan- 
tic's billows. The dangers on the sea from privateers 
and from pirates are many and constant. Kidd is in 
his grave, but the war-ships and the prisons of France 
are scarce less terrible. Occasionally we receive a 
copy of the Boston News Letter, the pioneer news- 
paper of America, first issued on the 24th of April 
this year.t Martha laughs at me for expecting to get 
any news of Mr. Makemie from the two double-col- 
umned pages in this twelve-by-eight-inch journal. 

* The author would hesitate to assert these things were it not for 
such authorities as Bishop Meade and Dr. Hawks of the Episcopal 
Church. 

f Edited by John Campbell — a Scotchman, of course ; printed by 

B. Green ; and sold by Nicholas Boom at his shop " near the old 
meeting-house." 



380 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1704. 

But our pastor has escaped the perils of the deep, 
and is again upon his native shores. Eventful years 
have passed since last he trod the turf of the Green 
Isle. Most of the ministers he once knew in the 
Presbytery of Laggan are dead or in Scotland. Many 
of his friends fell at the Break of Killileagh and at 
Londonderry. Of his immediate family and his boy- 
hood's companions, not a few suffered from the ravages 
of the Duke of Berwick around RamuUan. 

But the hills of Donegal are the same, and the vales 
of the Laggan, and the shadowy waters of Lough 
Swilly, and the playgrounds of his youth near Ra- 
melton. Brothers John and Robert and sister Anne 
are yet alive to welcome him back and tell of many 
incidents that have occurred since he sailed away to 
Maryland. He can take on his knees his little neph- 
ews — both called Francis for his sake — and speak to 
wondering ears of the howls of the American wolf and 
the whoop of the equally savage Indian. 

It is not strange that Mr. Makemie should seek out 
the survivers of the Presbytery which ordained him in 
solemn secrecy. They will be glad to hear of the la- 
bors of the young missionary — not so young now — 
whom more than a score of years ago they sent forth 
to the unsolved problems of the mysterious continent. 
How he will enjoy the long communion seasons, be- 
ginning as early as seven o'clock in the morning and 
running through seven or ten tables until late in the 
afternoon ! * They will not seem long to him. 

Our pastor becomes an eye-witness of the base in- 
gratitude of Prelacy and the government toward the 
Presbyterianism which stood in the breach against the 

* Rcid, ii. 496. Also for facts following. 



A. D. 1704.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 38 1 

Stuart and Popery and secured the kingdom to Wil- 
liam and to Protestantism. At LifTord he may see the 
public excommunication by ecclesiastical courts of 
members of our Church who have been married by 
our own ministers, and who refuse to confess them- 
selves guilty of adultery. He beholds the operation 
of the infamous sacramental test, imposed this year to 
drive Dissenters from all offices of public trust and 
emolument, no one being permitted to hold any posi- 
tion, civil or military, under appointment of the sover- 
eign, without taking within three months the consecrat- 
ed bread and wine kneeling at the chancel in some 
parish church. In the historic city of Londonderry, 
illustrious with their valor, ten out of twelve aldermen 
and fourteen out of twenty-four burgesses are igno- 
miniously turned out of their places. 

As successors to these ousted officers, and all over 
Ulster, Mr. Makemie sees promoted to honor those whom 
De Foe well describes as " men of little estates, youths, 
newcomers and clergymen, having nothing to recom- 
mend them to the dignity of magistrates but their 
going to church." 

If some indignation stirs our minister's bosom, it 
need be no marvel, when he remembers the stories of 
Presbyterian prowess that came to him over the sea 
during the Revolution days. 

But the woodbine of Donegal still blooms about his 
way, the waves of Lough Swilly still sparkle on to- 
ward the ocean, and beyond the great Atlantic are 
Naomi and the children and the church which he has 
planted and for whose prosperity he prays. We can 
imagine his zeal to discover fit helpers for the vast 
Western work, his efforts to arouse new missionary 



382 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1704. 

spirit in the Presbyteries, his endeavors to enlist the 
young ministry to the call of America and of God. 

The Dissenters of London are in better condition to 
aid, and to them also he applies. He finds the nation 
fired with Marlborough's unparalleled campaign upon 
the Danube, and with the magnificent victory of Blen- 
heim on the 13th of August. On the 7th of Septem- 
ber comes the enthusiastic thanksgiving, with bonfires 
and great rejoicings and Te Deums in the churches. 
In Spain, Gibraltar is taken by the English, though 
they know not yet the full value of the capture. If 
Mr. Makemie's patriotism is thrilled by these grand 
events, his contempt must be no less moved by the 
poorly-disguised regrets of the Jacobite High Church- 
men at the success of British arms over Louis. In the 
very midst of the national joy, these factionists con- 
tinue their agitations against Occasional Conformity 
and try to tack on their favorite measure to a money- 
bill necessary for the prosecution of the war. The 
country is becoming disgusted with "the Tackers," 
as they are called, and the great duke reaches home 
in time to vote against their miserable schemes.* 

While these noisy events occupy the public mind. Sci- 
ence gains her own quiet victories in the retired study 
of her industrious votary. In the bookstores, and pub- 
lished this year, our observant pastor will notice a new 
book of no little fame — The Optics of Mr. Isaac Newton. 

Meanwhile, Mr. Makemie never loses sight of the 
mission which has taken him to Europe, for in its 
prosecution he knows that he works for a nobler 
cause than that which enlists the diplomacy and the 
generalship of Marlborough or the genius of Newton. 

* Knight, vol. v., in loco. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 
A. D. 1705. 

"Tyed up from exercising their Ministiy without License." — 
Makemie. 

I OVERHEAR Matchacoopah giving our little 
Francis Makemie a lesson in the natural history 
of Maryland in the language of the Nanticokes. 
"What is the word for * bird '?" asks the child. 
" Pipseequel' answers the Indian. 
"'Eagle'?" 
' Ah-whap-pazvn-topy 
"Hawk'?" 
" Mah-squalleny 
'Owl'?" 
Qiwo-waa7ity 
"'Turkey'?" 
" Pah-qtmnr 

Wild goose'?" 
" Qtia-haw-qtmnty 

The child notices how frequently the cry of the 
birds is imitated in the names given them in the 
Nanticoke dialect. The lesson proceeds: 
Raven'?" 
" Uek-qiiacky 
* Crow ' ? " 
Kuh-hos^ 
'Duck'?" 

383 



384 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1705. 

Quah-quampsy 
'Blackbird'?" 
Husqidnooky 
'Crane'?" 
Ah-seeqiiey 
'Dove'?" 
Wee-tah-tompsy 
'Pigeon'?" 
Not- si-mini-s7ik" 
'Pheasant'?" 
Uh-qiias-capitzy 
'Partridge'?" 
Kittycawndipquay 
'Buzzard'?" 
J/^/^-w^^^i-." 
'Mocking-bird'?" 
Ahniittonqhay 
'Red-bird'?" 
Pish-quip-eepsT 

What is your word for 'tree'?" 
Pelniequel' replies the teacher. 
'Pine'?" 
Qiiaaty 
'Cedar'?" 
Weens-qua-a-quahy 
'Poplar'?" 
Wee-saa-quaky 
'Ash'?" 
Paw-kawqueT 
'Beech'?" 
Pah-scan-e-mintzr 
'Maple'?" 
rF^ze/-j^^->^^-?;^^." 



A. D. 1705.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 385 

"Oak'?" 

" Wee-seek-e-mintz." 

"'Chestnut'?" 

" Eh-qiia-mintzy 

"'Hickory'?" 

''Psee-cimr 

"'Walnut'?" 

^^Ah-sin- ni-mintzy 

"'Locust'?" 

" Kla-one-nahq" 

"'Mulberry'?" 

" Whee-in-quackr 

"A vine?" 

" Mal-law-co-min-i-mintzy 

" What is the word for ' hill'?" 

" Lemuck-quickseT 

"'Valley'?' 

" Qualliquaukimuckr 

"'River'?" 

" Pamptifckquar 

"'Creek'?" 

" PainptiickquaskqueJ* 

"A spring?" 

" Moo-nip-pquey 

"'Pond'?" 

" Nippipr 

"The sea?" 

" Maiik-nippinty 

The last name seems to remind the Indian of one 
far beyond the great waters, and he interprets the feel- 
ings of us all : 

" Lonely looks the wigwam in the pines. Lonely is 
the house of Mann-itt at Rehoboth, The good talker 

25 



S^ THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1705. 

of the palefaces has gone over maiik-nippint, and 
Pocomoke is in dah-qua-a-7iee (sorrow)." 

Matchacoopah speaks the truth. We prepare to 
build the new church on Mr. Makemie's lots, but 
the time of his absence seems long. Will he succeed 
in securing other preachers? or, when he shall wear 
out and die, must the Presbyterian cause die with 
him ? We are taxed to support the Rev. George 
Trotter of Somerset Parish, Rev. Robert Keith of 
Coventry, and Rev. Alexander Adams of Stepney; 
but they do not give us the gospel for which our 
soul thirsts. I think that the latter two clergymen 
will prove specimen " Maryland parsons " and do all 
they can to obstruct the work of our church. 

From Truths in a True Light I have just been read- 
ing Mr. Makemie's strictures upon defects of adminis- 
tration in the Anglican Church. He says : 

" We dissent from the Discipline and Censures of the Church 
of England ; and, though they are without all church-discipline 
and censure in every plantation of America, yet, even as it is 
managed in England, many of your own sons dislike it as well 
as we. Especially in these particulars : 

"i. Its absoluteness; being exerhised by a sole authority in 
the breast of a particular Diocesan, acting all in his own name, 
without commission or warrant from any other. Sir Francis 
Bacon, who was highly for the Church of England, tells us the 
Bishop gives orders alone, excommunicates alone, and affirms it 
to be without example in all good government ; for kings and 
monarchs have their counsellors ; the courts of King's Bench, 
Common Pleas and Exchequer, have many Judges ; and the 
Chancellor hath the assistance of twelve Masters of Chancery. 
I am assured that the Scripture warrant is directed to a number ; 
' Die Ecclesia,' tell the church. 

" 2. The authority and power of discipline is generally man- 
aged by delegation or deputation of lay-persons, as Chancellors, 
Officials, Registers, Sumners, Canonicals, etc. ; choosing such as 
helps in government rather than the clergy : which the Lord 



A. D. 1705.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 387 

Verulam affirms to be contrary to all rules of good government, 
for offices of confidence and skill cannot be exercised by depu- 
ties. The confidence and trust being personal and inherent can- 
not be transposed to an ignorant and unqualified lay-person more 
than such can be deputed to preach the Word and administer 
the sacraments. 

" 3. The English church-discipline is turned into a mere money- 
matter and the use of Christ's keys is made mercenary, punish- 
ing the purses and not afflicting the consciences of the delin- 
quents ; as a great man of the church, in a sermon preached at 
one of the Universities, told them — Claves Christi pidsant eru- 
menas, non verbej-ant conscientias. And Hickringale assures us 
from his certain knowledge that guineas will procure absolution 
from Doctors Commons without any confession or show of re- 
pentance ; yea, without a sight of the guilty party. A more 
bare-faced practice than that of the Romish churches who al- 
ways use confession and penance for a cloak." 

If such are the imperfections of discipline at the 
fountain-head, it may be imagined what are the prac- 
tices where there is no discipline at all. 

Beverly's History and Present State of Virginia, pub- 
lished this year, says of the Dissenters in that province : 

" They have no more than five conventicles amongst them ; 
namely, three small meetings of Quakers and two of Presbyte- 
rians. * Tis observed that those counties where the Presbyterian 
meetings are, produce very mean tobacco and, for that reason, 
can't get an orthodox minister to stay amongst them." 

Does Mr. Beverly refer to Accomack ? If so, he 
evidently is not aware that the Rev. Thomas Teackle 
preached on the Eastern Shore for thirty-nine years 
— a longer period than any other ** orthodox " clergy- 
man in the colony. Nor does he seem to know of the 
large estates there owned by both the "orthodox" 
Teackle and the Dissenter Makemie. Or does the 
new historian speak only of the " conventicles " in 
Princess Anne county supplied by Rev. Josias 
Mackie? On one point he is certainly posted — the 



388 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1705. 

ambition of the clergy to secure parishes where their 
salary of sixteen thousand pounds of tobacco per an- 
num shall be of the very best quality ! 

In the mean while, our minister watches for the 
temporal advancement of the sister-provinces as well 
as for their spiritual good. This year he publishes in 
England a little book with the following title : A Plain 
and Friendly Perszvasive to the Inhabitants of Virginia 
and Maryland for Promoting Tozvns and Cohabitation. 
By a Well-Wisher to both Governments. London. 
Printed by John Humphreys, in BartJiolomeiv Lane. 
1705.^ Absent in body, his heart is still in America. 

In the preamble to an act passed by the Virginia 
Assembly in 1699 providing for a revisal of the laws, 
the province is styled ** His Majestie's ancient and 
great colony and dominion." My father thinks this 
the first official record of the term "Ancient Domin- 
ion." One of the first instances of its use in all litera- 
ture is in the inscription this year of Mr. Makemie's 
little book : ** Dedicated to his excellency Major Ed- 
ward Nott, Her Majesty's Governor of the Ancient 
Dominion of Virginia." 

This new governor is a decided improvement upon 
the immoral, irascible, lovesick Nicholson, now with- 
drawn. The latter "true son, or rather, nursing- 
father of the church of England in America," as he 
has been called by the Philadelphia clergyman Tal- 
bot,t has of late been involved in constant strife with 
Commissary Blair and the vestries, and has played the 
tyrant as despotically toward his Church as toward his 
lady-love Miss Burwell. The mild character of the 

* One copy extant, in the library at Harvard, 
f Anderson's Colonial Chtirch, ii. 236. 



A. D. 1705.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 389 

present incumbent is an encouraging contrast. Mr. 
Makemie thus gracefully addresses the new governor : 

" May it please your excellency ; There is nothing more sea- 
sonable for allaying the heats and curing the animosities both in 
the ecclesiastical and political body of the present constitution of 
Virginia (whereby the conduct of public affairs there has been 
greatly retarded of late and a great deal of time and many op- 
portunities lost of advancing and improving a noble country) 
than a new Governor invested with so large a stock of temper 
and unbiased interest as your Excellency, by an universal char- 
acter, is represented to be. 

"As Queen Elizabeth was the original discoverer and founder 
of this ancient and noble colony of Virginia, from whom it de- 
rives its name; so it is to be hoped that our present Majesty will 
be the founder of ports, towns and cohabitation, by recommend- 
ing the same to your Excellency's care and conduct in promoting 
that which will be the glory and only improvement of that coun- 
try, and, if accomplished, will be a perpetual monument to the 
praise of your Excellency, in conquering all such difficulties as 
have been too mighty for former governors, whose attempts of 
this nature have proved ineffectual and abortive. 

"As our Plantations abroad, and especially Virginia, have long 
groaned under perhaps a worse character than it now deserves, 
which created no small prejudice and aversion in the breasts of 
many against transportation to those colonies ; so nothing would 
more effectually wipe off such scandalous imputations than by 
promoting and encouraging education and virtue, checking and 
discountenancing vice or immorality in all, from the highest to 
the lowest, by the example of a severe and virtuous conversation 
in Governors and councillors, and promoting a reformation of 
manners, in putting all our penal laws in due execution, en- 
couraging the strictest justice in all our Judicatories, and in 
propagating the true knowledge of the Christian religion to 
all pagans, whether Indians or Negroes ; all which has been 
lamentably neglected, even by such as have pretended to the 
highest pitch of zeal. 

" Your Excellency has a fair opportunity put into your hands 
for laying such obligations on the inhabitants of Virginia as they 
have not yet had experience of, and advancing the honor and 
interest of our present Sovereign, and laying a lasting foundation 
for promoting and facilitating the trade of England to that colony 



390 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1705. 

and giving a copy to all our neighbor Plantations. And that this 
may be the real effect of your Excellency's government, is and 
shall be the unfeigned desire and prayer of — Your most humble 
and most obedient servant." 

I quote this dedication entire to show how Mr. Ma- 
kemie is able to use a secular theme for advancing the 
honor of his Master. Managing very skillfully to get 
the ear of governor and queen, while pressing the 
direct purpose of a temporal measure, he does not 
forget to magnify his office as a minister of truth and 
righteousness. 

The attempts heretofore made in Virginia and Mary- 
land to legislate towns into existence have mostly 
failed. Mr. Makemie speaks of "the beginnings of 
towns at Williamsburg, Hampton" and Norfolk," and 
tells of some little commerce, " particularly in Norfolk 
town, at Elizabeth River, who carry on a small trade 
with the whole bay." Our minister owns a house and 
lot down there, and Mr. Mackie, our other Scotch-Irish 
minister-merchant, shares in the trade. In our own 
county, out of the seven or eight made by act of As- 
sembly, we have only the most humble pretensions to 
villages at Snow Hill and Rehoboth. The largest in 
Maryland is our capital, containing only forty or fifty 
houses. Of this village the Sot- Weed Factor writes : 

" To try the cause then fully bent, 
Up to Annapolis I went ; 
A City situate on a Plain, 
"Where scarce a House will keep out Rain ; 
The Buildings, framed with Cyprus rare, 
Resembles much our Southwark Fair; 
But Stranger here will scarcely meet 
With Market-place, Exchange or Street; 
And if the Truth I may report, 
'Tis not so large as Tottenham Court. 



A. D. 1705.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 39 1 

St. Mary's once was in repute, 
Now, here the Judges try the Suit 
And Lawyers twice a year dispute ; 
As oft the Bench most gravely meet, 
Some to get Drunk and some to eat 
A swinging share of Country Treat." 

Mr. Makemie considers the present a " happy junct- 
ure " for bringing the people closer together into vil- 
lages. The English authorities have been lately urg- 
ing it upon the Maryland Council. Our pastor says : 

" The trading part of England, of whom you have had a 
former jealousy and suspicion of their aversion to towns, are 
now for them. The Government of England recommends it to 
your determination." 

In this Perswasive the author describes the beauti- 
ful country lying contiguous to the Chesapeake and 
portrays its advantages for agriculture, manufactures 
and commerce. To develop these he pleads for enter- 
prising towns, and he exhorts the people to arm them- 
selves against all dividing debates and to work toward 
this one great interest. Of its opposers he says : 

*' Let the brute beasts check them, who generally resort to- 
gether in droves. I'll send them to the fishes of the sea, who 
swim together in shoals. The very fowls of the air do flock to- 
gether. All these concur to upbraid our folly." 

Two years ago (1703) the eccentric Czar of Russia, 
defying the rigors of the North and the malarious 
marshes of the Neva, laid the foundations of his in- 
tended capital, and is determined that the new town 
of St. Petersburg shall be a great city. Our minis- 
ter seems possessed of no less enterprise. 

While he is writing this little book, Mr. Makemie 
is prosecuting far more important plans. The excite- 



392 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1705. 

ments of the great war in Europe and the brilliant 
campaigns of Peterborough in Spain do not divert his 
efforts ; nor do the triumphs of the Whigs in the Par- 
liamentary elections, nor the Jacobite High-Church cry- 
that " the Church is in danger," and the proclamation 
of the queen against these scandalous and seditious 
clamors; nor the continued strife in Ireland about 
Presbyterian marriages ; nor the agitation of a union 
between England and Scotland, and the bad feeling 
accompanying it. None of these things move him 
or dampen his purpose. 

During these negotiations for a supply of ministers, 
shall we not think of him as looking to the North and 
conferring with brethren of the Scotch Church of 
whom he had said, while speaking of their tenet of 
predestination : 

" I do profess myself fully of their sentiments in this and all 
other doctrines of faith, and in God's strength shall never swerve 
nor prevaricate " ? 

Shall he remain a year in Europe without again 
walking the floors of the university which he entered 
just thirty years ago, and again worshiping in the 
churches which have been baptized since then with 
the blood of martyrs ? My friend Mary, the Scotch 
lassie, seems often to see him standing reverently by 
the grave of John Knox, or by the monument to the 
eighteen thousand in Grey Friars' churchyard, or by 
the waters of Blednock where Margaret Wilson died. 
And shall he not run up to Borthwick and talk with 
Mr. Trail about the Pocomoke and the scenes around 
the old plantation of Brother's Love ? Mr. Trail is 
now sixty-four years of age, was married four years 
ago to his second wife, Jean Murray, and is still roused 



A. D. 1705.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 393 

up to solemn duties, I suppose, by the mysterious calls 
at his room door and on the head of his bed. No other 
men in Europe can talk as intelligently about the needs 
of our great field as these two. 

The little girls, Betty and Anne, watch the glisten- 
ing Sound of Pocomoke for their father's sail. Naomi, 
with her assistants, manages the large estate and awaits 
his coming. On the 7th of March she and James 
Kemp get judgment in the Accomack court against 
John Haskins for the amount paid in his behalf last 
year. The same case is still before the court on April 
4 and June 6 in the name of these same attorneys of 
Mr. Makemie i^j). Perhaps Madam Tabitha Hill an- 
ticipates his arrival with anxiety no less intense than 
the rest of us. So, too, the Rev. Alexander Adams 
of Stepney and the Rev. Robert Keith of Coventry. 

Mr. Makemie's diplomacy is rewarded with success. 
The claims of America have been ably represented, 
and the ministers of London have agreed to under- 
take the support of two missionaries for two years, 
after which, time it is expected that they shall secure a 
maintenance and settle ; then the association engages 
to send out two more upon the same terms {(i'^). 
With his knowledge of the work and of the work- 
men needed, it is not to be feared that Mr. Makemie 
has made any mistake in his selection of men. 
Whether they be from Scotland or Ireland, we may 
be sure of staunch Presbyterians. Of the former 
there can be no suspicion, and this very year the 
Synod of Ulster again puts itself unanimously upon 
record as follows: 

" Such ministers as are to be licensed shall subscribe the West- 
minster Confession, and promise to adhere to the doctrine, discip- 



394 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1705. 

line and government therein contained; as also those that are 
licensed and have not subscribed, are to be obliged to subscribe 
before they are ordained." 

And now the son of Donegal again bids farewell to 
the scenes of his youth — probably a final farewell. 
The castle, the mill and the cottage fade from view ; 
the voices of the Ulster Makemies die out upon the 
ear. He goes not, as once he did, a young man, to 
an unknown land and strange faces : he sails away, a 
weatherbeaten voyager, to wife and children and a 
church which he has planted and watered. With him 
are two young men. Were the ancient Argonauts re- 
turning to lolchus more proud of their golden treas- 
ure than was Mr. Makemie when entering the Chesa- 
peake with these " itinerants " consecrated to the 
gospel-work in Maryland? 

Rehoboth, Snow Hill, Monokin and Rockawalkin 
are glad, for John Hampton and George Macnish are 
here with their leader, and the Presbyterian heart again 
is cheered and grateful to almighty God. The new 
church is certainly to be built at Rehoboth, and an- 
other just as certainly at Monokin. English, Scotch 
and Scotch-Irish crowd about the three ministers to 
hear the news from the fatherland. Yes, and the 
Huguenots too; for Mr. Makemie will know of the 
condition of their friends in Ireland and in London 
and the latest aspects of the struggle in France. Our 
pioneer talks of forming a Presbytery and bringing the 
scattered churches and ministers into complete organi- 
zation for aggressive work. The primitive bishop re- 
members that he is a presbyter too. 

The jealousy of the Churchmen toward our cause is 
not decreasing. In Philadelphia, Talbot writes : 



A. D. 1705.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 395 

" There is a new meeting-house built for Andrews almost fin- 
ished, which I am afraid will draw away great part of the 
Church, if there be not the greatest care taken of it."* 

Does this desire to have it taken care of prompt the 
intrigue for extending the authority of Lord Cornbury 
over Pennsylvania? Talbot seems to distrust George 
Keith's prophecy of two or three years ago — that " the 
Presbyterians are not hke to increase here." We are 
reminded of the complaint of a writer ten years ago, 
nearer our own latitudes — that "the dissenters deluded 
many Churchmen by extemporary prayers and preach- 
ments." t 

The Rev. Robert Keith of Coventry and the Rev. 
Alexander Adams of Stepney are not pleased with 
the outlook in Somerset. The Quakers still tithe the 
meanest tobacco,^ and Presbyterian conventicles and 
Presbyterian ministers are too many and too popular. 
Something must be done. Though Commissary Bray 
was defeated in the year 1700 in his attempt to force 
the Prayer-Book upon all places of public worship, 
and though in 1702 the Toleration Act was definitely 
incorporated in the code of Maryland as a condition 
precedent to the Establishment, yet to give all these 
conventicles the protection of law will never do. 
And may not Governor Seymour even yet be brought 
around to play into the hands of the Church ? To 
close the mouths of these newly-imported itinerants 
would be a crushing blow upon the author of Truths 
in a True Light, who therein shows too plainly the 
weaknesses of Prelacy. 

It is understood that these dissenting preachers are 
expecting at the first court in November to put them- 

* Gillett, i. 24. t Hill's Sketches, p. 72. % Bishop Hawks, p. 80. 
20 



39^ THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1705. 

selves and their churches formally under the shield of 
the Act of Toleration. The law must be retarded and 
tested, think the reverend rectors. The two clerical 
plotters put their heads together and await their 
opportunity. Would not John Hewett, who lived 
here for twenty years before their day, preaching the 
gospel, marrying the early colonists and baptizing his 
Indian converts, have scorned such machinations ? 

On the 14th of November the court meets at Divid- 
ing Creek. The tobacco is gathered in, the colonists 
are at leisure, and the court-house hill is full of men 
talking about the conflict between the preachers. 
Yonder, document in hand, stand the two sagacious 
rectors. Yonder dismounts Mr. Macnish, familiar from 
birth with the aggressions of Prelacy and knowing that 
he has little favor to expect at its hands. But the stur- 
dy young Scotchman is here to assert his rights. 

From the Nanticoke to the " Divisional Line," from 
the bayside to the Sinepuxent beach, appear the grand 
jurors. 

The licensed ordinary on the court-house premises, 
flowing with the fire-waters, is doing a thriving trade. 

The following justices take their seats upon the 
bench: Captain John West, John Cornish, Thomas 
Newbold, Captain John Franklin, Captain Charles 
Ballard and Joseph Venables. 

On the land of Judge Venables, up on the Wicomico, 
stands our Rockawalkin church. 

The justices, the clerk, the sheriff and the crier are 
all sworn, and subscribe their signatures to the Abju- 
ration and Test. Every court must be purged of all 
possibility of sympathy with Popery. There is much 
swearing in these days. 



A. D.I 705.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 397 

Amid a great deal of other business, an order is 
made for Captain John Frankhn and the Quaker John 
Goddin to supervise the repairing of " the great bridge 
of Pocomoke River" at Snow Hill. Also that no one 
shall drive or catch a horse or horses upon the said 
bridge. Direction is given that publication be made 
of this order " at the churches and meeting-houses at 
Snow Hill and on the seaside." 

But there is more important business than bridging 
rivers or protecting life and property. The Rev. Rob- 
ert Keith is impatient to offer a momentous petition 
from his vestry, and the Rev. Alexander Adams is 
waiting to back it with his influence. The Dissenters 
must be circumvented. For yonder stands the Scotch- 
man ready to qualify. He must be anticipated with 
the following piece of chicanery : 

" To the worshipful the Commissioners of Somerset County, 
the Address of the Vestry of the Parish of Coventry, humbly 
sheweth that— Whereas we have good ground to believe that Mr. 
Francis Mackemmy and others his assistants are intended to ad- 
dress your worships on account of a Toleration granted to Dis- 
senters for preaching and building meeting-houses and doing 
what else is incumbent on them as such, and we, duly consider- 
ing the import of the matter, humbly desire that the whole as to 
premises be remitted to his Excellency the Governor of this 
Province and the Honorable Council of State thereof, by them 
to be considered, ordered and determined as they may think ht; 
and that nothing be done in the premises until warrant and order 
be obtained from them, as to the whole premises or any part 
thereof; and the same presented to your worships in open Court, 
or to the Vestry of the said Parish and the remnant Vestrys there- 
in concerned. This our humble desire we offer without any pre- 
sumption of disobedience to the laws, whereof we find ourselves 
not competent judges. May it therefore Pl^ase your wors^ps 
seriouslvto consider the matter above represented, and to grant 
our desire according to Justice; and your petitioners will ever 
pray &c. Signed per order John Keith, pro Vestry. 



39^ THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1705. 

No "presumption of disobedience to the laws" for- 
sooth ! None of your enactments for the estabHsh- 
ment of Episcopacy in Maryland could gain the royal 
assent until you had distinctly embodied the Tolera- 
tion Act of William and Mary. What is there uncer- 
tain or indefinite in the law? Instead of the place of 
worship being registered, as in England, in the court 
of the bishop or archdeacon or at the county sessions, 
does not our Maryland law clearly prescribe that the 
meeting-houses shall be recorded in the county courts? 
Where is there one word about the vexatious delay of 
sending up these cases to governor and Council, the 
latter very often not in session, as is the case now ? 
What possible excuse for this manoeuvre but to intimi- 
date the Dissenters and outlaw our ministers ? 

These reverend plotters had shrewdly anticipated the 
following document : 

•' To the Justices of the worshipful Court of the County of 
Somerset now sitting, the petition of George Macnish humbly 
showeth — That your petitioner craveth that the usual oaths ac- 
cording to law tendered to, and to be taken by, Dissenting min- 
isters and preachers may be' tendered to your petitioner. And 
your petitioner shall in bounden duty pray &c. 

"George McNish." 

Here was respect for law and for its officials. His 
people are helping to support Mr. Keith and Mr. 
Adams, paying the forty pounds per poll and obeying 
the Act of Establishment. This is not enough ; our 
ministers must be silenced, and we must receive the 
ordinances at the hands of these rectors or not at all ! 
Both parties are heard, but the majority of the Bench 
are Episcopalians and the governor is an Episcopalian, 
and there is some plausibility in the claim that he is 



A. D. 1705.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 399 

the representative of the ecclesiastical headship of the 
queen ; and the plea to the jurisdiction overpowers the 
worshipful judges. The following record is made : 

" The petitions aforesaid being read in open Court, worshipful 
Judges having heard and deliberately considered the premises 
on both sides, it having reference to his Excellency for result in 
Ecclesiastical matters &c., he being here Representative in Chief, 
of Church and State, allow the said Vestry's petition to have its 
final result and determination by his said Excellency and Hon- 
orable Council of State as prayed for. Notwithstanding the said 
McNish in decent manner did require (he being a Dissenter from 
the Church of England) that he might be dignified as by law in 
this county to preach, offering to take the Oaths and subscribe 
the Declaration, nevertheless the worshipful Court hath resolved 
as aforesaid." 

The rectors triumph. Macnish and Hampton are 
not to be " dignified " with even the grudging permit 
of the Establishment Act: their rights are held in 
abeyance at the will of ecclesiastical tricksters. It is 
no surprise to those who have come from amid the 
persecutions of Scotland, Ireland and England, but 
our Presbyterian population need not be expected 
longer to repress their rising indignation. The in- 
solence and the profligacy of the " Maryland parsons " 
are growing worse and worse, so that even the govern- 
ment at Annapolis is beginning to show impatience. 
We have reason to hope that Governor Seymour will 
not truckle to the humors of the busy rectors, and 
that this " reference " will have no worse result than 
that of delay. 

It will be noticed that the petition is aimed primarily 
against Mr. Makemie. The man who brought the Vir- 
ginia government to an official recognition of the Tolera- 
tion Act is not likely to permit it to lapse in Maryland. 



4O0 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1705. 

No less persistent than Prelacy itself is Grandmoth- 
er Tabitha in her efforts to harass our pioneer. She 
means that he shall have no peace in his management 
of the Custis property and the Custis children. The 
testator had served with Mr. Makemie in a former 
executorship and knew well his ability and honesty, 
but she continues to question both. On the 4th of 
December, to meet her cavils and completely satisfy 
the law, an order is made by the Accomack court for 
securities. There is no difficulty in finding them. Not 
merely to secure the estate against imaginary depreda- 
tions, but to protect him from her frequent accusations, 
he offers the following strong array : Ralph Custis, 
John Parker, George Parker, Perry Leatherberry and 
James Alexander. It will be noticed that a near rela- 
tive of the deceased and of the orphans heads the list. 
Perfectly willing to conform to all requirements of law, 
Mr. Makemie is not to be worried out of the execu- 
torship. The sloop Tabitha still sails our waters, less 
troublesome to her master than her aged namesake ! 

On the same day Mr. Makemie and Naomi sign 
their names to a conveyance of land. Thus we con- 
stantly find him a man of affairs, an industrious citi- 
zen, as well as the founder of a church. This 4th day 
of December, 1705, is the first date of his appearance 
in court since his return from Europe. Meanwhile, 
through our poor postal facilities, through chance 
travelers and occasional sloops and ketches, the cor- 
respondence continues with regard to the formation 
of a Presbytery. Twenty-two years of his American 
life passed away, the hope long deferred seems at last 
to approach its consummation. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 
A. D. 1706. 

" You suffer yourselves to be imposed upon and know little more of 
Presbyterians but misrepresentations and calumnies thrown upon them 
by malicious, ignorant and ill-minded men, as if they were monsters 
and most insufferable in Church and State." — Makemie. 

MR. ROBERT KEITH, clerk, and Mr. Alexan- 
der Adams, clerk, are greatly elated at the suc- 
cess of their strategy. Wherever Mr. Macnish and 
Mr. Hampton officiate in the sacred office, they lay 
themselves open to prosecution by any malicious per- 
son ; and there are those who exult in the continued 
humiliation. 

Mr. Makemie holds his Barbadoes and Virginia 
certificates, and comes over the line when he pleases. 
The thrust aimed at him in the petition of the parsons 
does not intimidate him. It continues to be our de- 
light to have him, Naomi and the two little girls oc- 
casionally with us at the wigwam in the pines. This 
evening I heard Matchacoopah teaching the children 
to count in the dialect of -the Nanticokes : 

" Nick-qiiit, one ; na-eez, two ; nis-iwhi), three ; 
yangh-{whii), four ; nup-pai-a, five ; noquuttah, six ; 
my-gay-wahy seven ; tzah, eight ; papa-conqiie , nine ; 
inittah, ten ; ahtz-ickquit, eleven ; ahtz-iia-eez, twelve ; 
ahtz-whtw, thirteen ; ahtz-yangh, fourteen ; ahiz-up- 
payah, fifteen ; ahiz-aqinittah, sixteen ; ahtz-magaywah, 

26 401 



402 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1706. 

seventeen ; ahfz-wah, eighteen ; ahtz-pap-a-conqiie , nine- 
teen ; nee-e-smittah, twenty ; nee-qiLa-nick-qiiit, twenty- 
one ; supoocks-kay , thirty ; ymigh-pook-kay^ forty ; nup- 
pay-e-pooksqua, fifty ; neqimttah-epooksqiiah, sixty ; ma- 
ah-iva-epooksquaJi, seventy; tzah-epooksqnali^ eighty; 
papa-conqiie-epooksquah, ninety ; weembakipana, a hun- 
dred ; neez-akipana,\.'^o\i\JindiX^di\ nis-wdkipana,\kix&& 
hundred ; ymigh-zvah-kipana, four hundred ; nuppay-a- 
tasJiakipana, five hundred ; nuquiittaJi-iashakipana, six 
hundred; inay-gah-zvah-tasJiakipana, seven hundred; 
tzaJi-tasliakipana, eight hundred ; papa-conque-tashaki- 
pajia, nine hundred ; imittah-tashakipana, a thousand." 
Shall the Presbyterian ministry thus increase in 
numbers from the first who came over in 1683 to 
thousands in the far future ? or shall they be crushed 
out before the devices of Keith and Adams ? While 
thinking of the new preachers, whose lips the High 
Churchmen are trying to close, we listen very atten- 
tively to Mr. Makemie's words : 

"Where there is no ministry, or unfaithful watchmen, sin and 
iniquity abound and irreligion prevails. For ministers of Christ 
should not only stand in the gap to keep off the imminent and 
threatened judgments of Heaven from their people and flock by 
prayer and pleading ; but should always be standing in the gap 
to keep out an inundation of sin and profane irregularities in life 
by their plain and free doctrines, their fervent prayers and fre- 
quent supplications, their seasonable and bold reproofs, by their 
instructing and exemplary hves, endeavoring by all means to 
engage their hearers to hves becoming the Gospel of Christ."* 

Thus Mr. Makemie himself stands in the gap. Nor 
are Mr. Macnish and Mr. Hampton disposed to forfeit 
any rights by inaction. On the 8th of January they 
appear together before the court at Dividing Creek 

* Makemie's New York sermon. 



A. D. i7o6.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 403 

and file another application. This petition covers the 
entire case, the law and the reasons, and there are 
some of us who do not fail to detect the legal knowl- 
edge and tact of Mr. Makemie in the model paper. 
The same justices are again upon the bench — West, 
Cornish, Newbold, Fi-anklin, Ballard and Venables : 

" To the worshipful Court of Somerset County, in the Province 
of Maryland, the petition of George McNish and John Hampton 
most humbly showeth — That, 

" Whereas there is an Act of Parliament made in the first year 
of the reign of King Wilham and Queen Mary, intituled an Act 
for Exempting their Majesties' Protestant subjects, dissenting 
from the Church of England, from the penalties of certain laws ; 
and — 

" Whereas, by the express words of the said law, we are re- 
quired to tender to the Justices of the Peace at the General or 
Quarter Sessions of the County Town, parts or division where we 
live, to take the Oath of Allegiance, take or subscribe the Decla- 
rations, and declare our approbation of and subscribe the Articles 
of Religion made the thirteenth year of the reign of Queen Eliz- 
abeth, excepting such as are excepted in said Act ; and — 

" Whereas we, in ready compliance with said law, have already 
attended and tendered ourselves to take the said oath and per- 
form everything required in said law ; we do humbly tender 
ourselves again to your worships as the proper Court held by the 
Justices of the Peace for this county, empowered and required to 
administer such oaths, and for receiving such subscriptions as are 
enjoined in said Act of Parliament ; — 

"We, therefore, your humble petitioners pray that, by a further 
consideration of said law, we may be admitted to do our duty in 
complying with said law, which we are ready to do, seeing all 
Dissenters in all her Majesty's dominions have in this manner 
quahfied themselves ; And your petitioners as in duty bound 
shall always pray." 

Nearly two months since the former application, the 
two law-abiding young men again ask the recognition 
of their rights ; but no answer has yet come from An- 
napolis, and the judges still hesitate. Prelacy in the 



404 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1706. 

ascendant, a majority of the justices its adherents, the 
rectors still have their way. Oh for a William Stevens 
now upon the bench ! Another disgraceful record is 
added to the history of our county. Here it is : 

" The aforesaid Petition being read and by the worshipful Court 
considered, that whereas a petition from Coventry Parish and an- 
other from said Macnish, was in November Court last to this Court 
preferred and the same referred to his Excellency and Hon. Coun- 
cil for result ; it is this day likewise by the worshipful Justices again 
ordered that said Hampton and Macnish petition be continued 
till the aforesaid result be returned." 

Thus those appointed to enforce the law defeat its 
operation. While the rights of our ministers are de- 
nied them, the Rev. Robert Keith, clergyman, pur- 
chases this year his four hundred and forty-six acres 
south of Dividing Creek, near enough to the court- 
house to watch and manipulate the ecclesiastical pro- 
ceedings of our justices. This is the plantation for- 
merly owned by that William Morris who denounced 
Mr, Makemie with such horrible profanity at Reho- 
both in 1691. Over the "marks" of the two sons of 
the drunken blasphemer the land is now deeded to the 
" Maryland parson " before Justices John Franklin and 
William Fasset. The land was originally owned by 
Colonel Stevens under the name of " Suffolk." Where 
the former enemy of Makemie lived and grew besotted 
and broke God's Sabbaths and learned to curse the 
God of quick and dead, Mr. Keith will now have 
opportunity to prosecute his crusades against the 
Presbyterians. 

Madam Tabitha Hill continues as vexatious and per- 
sistent as the mosquitoes of the Pocomoke. Now and 
then she gets the better of our minister, and we all have 



A. D. 1706.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 405 

our laugh. Having himself given ample security for 
his duties in the Custis estate, he feels the need of some 
protection against lier mismanagement, and on the 5th 
of February he asks an order of the Accomack court 
for the enforcement of a former order that she shall 
render an account of her appropriations and expendi- 
tures in said estate or pay a fine of five hundred 
pounds. The records are examined, and on the next 
day the court returns the answer that no such order 
can be found. Mr. Makemie is positive that the order 
was made, but through the neglect of the clerk he 
suffers a temporary defeat, and Madam Tabitha sails 
off as gayly as the sloop Tabitha before the high 
winds of the Chesapeake. 

My father watches all these things which identify 
our minister with the current life of contemporaries. 
On the 7th of the same month (February) he has a 
suit pending before the same court against John 
Poulson, but Mr. Makemie fails to, appear, and the 
case is dismissed. On the 13th of January a writ had 
been issued by our own presiding judge, Captain John 
West, against Francis Makemie and Anne his wife, 
executors of Edmund Custis, late agent of Daniel 
Lewis of London, the suit being brought by Captain 
William Whittington. On the i6th of March our pas- 
tor appears at Dividing Creek and gives special bail 
for his appearance for trial in June. He takes no ad- 
vantage of the error in the name of his wife. What a 
vexatious responsibility is this managing of estates 
for other people ! 

A few days before, during this same month, the fol- 
lowing order was issued by the governor from Annap- 
olis : 



406 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1706. 

" By his Excellency the Governor, March the 13th 1706, or- 
dered then that the worshipful Justices of Somerset County take 
the Oaths of the Dissenting ministers according to the Act of 
Parliament of the first of King William and Queen Mary ex- 
empting her Majesty's Protestant subjects from certain penal- 
ties etc. Signed per order, W. Bladen, Clerk of Council. In- 
dorsed to Somerset Court." 

The new State-House across the bay has just been 
completed ; it is a neat brick building in the form of 
an oblong square. Entering the hall, you see, opposite 
the door, the judge's seat, and on each side of this 
hall are jury-rooms. On the wall above the judge's 
seat hangs a full-length portrait of Queen Anne pre- 
senting a printed charter of the little city of Annapolis. 
In this room our General Assembly henceforth holds 
its sessions and legislates for both Church and State. 
Surmounting the building is a handsome cupola sur- 
rounded by a balustrade and furnished with seats for 
those who desire from this elevation to enjoy the at- 
tractive scenery. Here the beauty and chivalry of 
our colonial capital gather in the evening, exchange 
their courtesies, talk of the last ball, trace the bright 
Severn to the sea, and breathe the refreshing breezes 
which blow from the salt waters beyond. 

Not far away is the armory, with its large hall, seats 
all around it, and its walls covered with the arms of 
the period. Here is another portrait of Her Gracious 
Majesty. From the ceiling hangs a wooden chande- 
lier, gilt and shining, which at times throws its hght 
over the dancers. For this is the ball-room, where, 
arrayed in the last costumes from Europe, our great 
officials and our aristocratic society gather to while 
away the hours in the pursuit of pleasure. Those 
who have spent the day in forming laws for the gov- 



A. D. i7o6.] THE DAYS OF MAKE M IE. 4^7 

ernment of the Church of the Hving God here pass 
their evenings quaffing their goblets of wine and rum 
and practicing their devotions to Terpsichore.* 

In one of the apartments the governor and Council 
hold their sessions, and from this room has issued the 
order for the "dignifying" of our ministers "as by law 
in this county to preach." 

South of the State-House is the academy of King 
William, a plain edifice, the only school-building in 
the province; for the scheme of Governor Nicholson 
to establish public schools in every county has failed. 
Of our native Marylanders, there are more that sign 
their marks than write their names. 

Not far from the Capitol stands the only brick 
church in the colony. Built by public taxes, it is a 
monument to the churchly zeal of the most immoral 
of our governors. Our government, taking the Epis- 
copal Church upon its hands, is finding that it has 
adopted a very wayward, grasping, unmanageable 
ward. Not satisfied with exacting a state support 
largely paid by Dissenters, it would cheat them out 
of every franchise, deny them the benefits of the toler- 
ation proviso of 1702, worry the Quakers, persecute 
the Papists, outlaw the Presbyterian ministry and 
keep society in a ferment. The Assembly finds it 
necessary to re-enact the law of toleration this year, 
but even in doing this it has been so influenced by 
the High-Church party that it has managed to empha- 
size the penal clauses more than its principles of relig- 
ious freedom. Did our Somerset troubles with the two 
belligerent rectors help to bring about the re-enact- 
ment of a statute plain and intelligible enough before ? 

*The annals of Annapolis. 



408 THE DAYS OF MAKE MI E. [A. D. 1706. 

The June court approaches, and it is known that an 
important order has arrived from governor and Coun- 
cil. Nearly a year has elapsed since the ** itinerants " 
came to America, and full seven months have passed 
since their first formal application for license was made 
and evaded. What now will our opposers do ? Will 
they be ready with other intrigues ? Will they too far 
provoke the governor who repulsed Bray and Hewet- 
son, and who is growing disgusted with the immorality 
of the clergy ? 

Of course the Presbyterian colonists await the 
action of this court with intense solicitude. William 
invites me to accompany him to Dividing Creek ; so, 
mounting my beach-pony, I ride bravely by his side. 
Our women are very quiet about public affairs until 
blows are aimed at their ministers and their Saviour. 
Our little Francis, the young Mary lander, rides behind 
his papa, representing the interest of coming genera- 
tions in the events of to-day. 

*' Here stately pines unite their whisp'ring heads, 
And with a solemn gloom embrown the glades ; 
See ! there a green savannah opens wide, 
Through which smooth streams in wanton mazes glide ; 
Thick-branching shrubs o'erhang the silver streams, 
Which scarcely deign to admit the solar beams " (69). 

This ought to be the clime of peace and holy con- 
cord. 

While in the last few weeks the Duke of Marl- 
borough has been winning the great victory of Rami- 
lies and is driving the French out of the Netherlands, 
and while the High-Church Tories are still doing all 
they can to obstruct these glorious triumphs; while 
the union between England and Scotland is approach- 



A. D. 1706.] THE DAYS OF MAKE M IE. 4O9 

ing consummation and the Episcopal Jacobites of the 
North are trying to defeat it, clinging still to the hope 
of a return to the throne of a scion of the persecuting 
Stuarts, it does seem lamentable that this same High 
Church intolerance should have crossed the deep and 
kindled its flames of passion and hate within sight of 
our forest court-houses. 

June is a soft, gentle month upon the Eastern Shore, 
and the companies of riders are saluted on all sides 
with the hum of insects and the carol of birds. 

" On every tree behold a tuneful throng ; 
The vocal valleys echo to their song. 
But what is he who, perched above the rest. 
Pours out such various music from his breast ? — 
His breast, whose plumes a cheerful white display ; 
His quivering wings are dressed in sober gray. 
Sure, all the Muses this their bird inspire. 
And he alone is equal to the choir 
Of warbling songsters who around him play 
While, echo-like, he answers every lay. 
The chirping lark now sings with sprightly note : 
Responsive to her strain he shapes his throat ; 
Now the poor widow'd turtle wails her mate, 
While in soft sounds he coos to mourn his fate. 
Oh, sweet musician, thou dost far excel 
The soothing song of pleasing Philomel ! 
Sweet is her song, but in few notes confined ; 
But thine, thou mimic of the feathery kind. 
Runs through all notes. Thou only know'st them all, 
At once the copy and the original." 

We had started early that we might call by Mrs. 
Mary Edgar's, formerly Mrs. Rounds, and also carry 
some wheaten bread and some medicine to the cabin 
of our friend Matchacoopah, whose Askimmekonson 
bride lies sick. His corn-patch is growing well, and 



4IO THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1706. 

he is collecting some of the white man's comforts 
about his home. 

It is the twelfth day of the Indians' Fawn Moon — so 
named because at this time the deer bring forth their 
young. Our Presbyterian preachers are promptly on 
the ground. Mr. Makemie has business of his own, 
in addition to his deep interest in his two ** assistants." 
Yesterday a deed was executed by himself and his 
wife conveying his two hundred and fifty acres of land 
down on Pitts Creek to Mr. Isaac Piper, one of his 
elders.* This is part of the tract called " Fookes's 
Choice," formerly owned by Mrs. Makemie's father, 
half of which was sold to Andrew Alexander in 
1695 Mr. Piper's purchase is called " Convoy," and 
is described as about five miles from the Pocomoke 
and near the divisional line between Virginia and 
Maryland.! Ministers love to see staunch Presby- 
terians making their homes near the churches. 

To-morrow Mr. Makemie will withdraw the former 
plea in the suit of Daniel Lewis of London against 
the executors of the Custis estate, and he and " his 
wife Amy',' as they now have it, will confess judg- 
ment. Our minister has examined the claim, and 
recognizes its justice. 

At this court a man called William White, alias 
Whitt, alias Watson, is charged with stealing horses 
down in Virginia and riding them up over our Poco- 
moke ferry and concealing them by help of his ac- 
complice. Rice Morgan. A man is also suing for the 
recovery of papers which he had been induced to sign 
after being made drunk on boiled cider. 

* Mr. Piper was a member of Presbytery in 1 712. 
f Where the old Pitts Creek church now stands. 



A. D. 1706.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 41I 

But the chief interest of this session of court centres 
upon the petition of George Macnish and John Hamp- 
ton. The same justices are upon the bench as at the 
time of previous applications. Our preachers come 
armed with the order of the governor, of March 
last, and that order is so definite that there can be no 
further evasion. The two rectors have exhausted their 
strategy, and must submit. They have accompHshed 
two things — long delay and the attendant ill-feeling — 
and have pilloried their names upon the court records 
for the contempt of future centuries. Upon his plan- 
tation of Suffolk, the rector of Coventry Parish may 
ruminate over his disgraceful device, while our min- 
isters, protected by law, go abroad bearing the mes- 
sages of salvation. The records of last November, of 
January and of to-day will form a fit epitaph for these 
intolerant clergymen : 

" This day appeared Mr. John Hampton and Mr. George Mac- 
nish and exhibited an order from his Excellency the Governor 
and Honorable Council for their quahfication to preach in this 
county ; In obedience thereunto this Court did administer the 
Oath appointed per Act of Parliament to the said Hampton and 
Macnish who did comply therewith and did likewise subscribe 
the Declaration ; whereupon this Court did allow that the afore- 
said Hampton and Macnish should preach at the meeting-house 
near Mr. Edgar's, the meeting-house at the head of Monokin, 
the meeting-house at Snow Hill, and the meeting-house on 
Mr. Joseph Venables' land as per the Dissenting preachers re- 
quired " (70). 

So closes this disagreeable business, and we all ride 
home in the evening, enjoying the scenes and sounds 
of Nature far more than in the morning. Thank God 
that we have had a Seymour for governor rather than 
a Cornbury ! This reminds me that the Venerable 
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign 



412 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1706. 

Parts, who sent out Robert Keith and Alexander 
Adams, have this very year been proclaiming their 
gratitude for the queen's favor, which, they say in 
their report, 

"has had very good effects abroad, by influencing and exciting 
the governors and inhabitants to build several new churches and 
even to convert some of the meeting-houses of the Quakers and 
other sectaries into houses of worship according to the Church 
of England." * 

Now the queen's cousin, the profligate Cornbury — 
"that noble patron of the Church," as he has been 
called — may congratulate himself in the emphatic 
approval of the Venerable Society upon his church- 
stealing and parsonage-stealing and his base treat- 
ment of Mr. Hubbard. Shall we not expect them next 
to pronounce their eulogies upon William White, the 
Pocomoke horsethief? 

Last October died the youthful Hubbard, defrauded 
of his rights to the last and under the ban of the gov- 
ernor's displeasure. By the same high-handed meas- 
ures, unquestionably, would the rectors of Coventry 
and Stepney have been glad to drive out our minis- 
ters and appropriate our Somerset churches. This year 
Mn Cotton Mather testifies that the people of Jamaica 
have adorned the doctrine of God their Saviour by a 
most laudable silence and wonderful patience under 
their wrongs. f 

Well understanding the spirit of our opposers, Mr. 
Makemie shows his characteristic good sense in hav- 
ing our new church at Rehoboth built upon his own 
lots. The fee-simple in a private person, not even a 
Lord Cornbury could take possession and ** convert it 
* Webster, p. 84. f Letter to London ministers. 



A. D. i7o6.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 413 

into a house of worship according to the Church of 
England." It is fortunate to have a minister who has 
law-books in his study and legal knowledge in his 
head. 

To future generations it will look strange that the 
savages can more easily obtain justice in the courts 
than our ministers. This year three white men com- 
mit depredations upon the cabin of our old acquaint- 
ance, Matchacoopah. The crime seems to have been 
perpetrated without provocation, perhaps while the 
men were drunk. The owner is absent in the woods, 
and on returning he finds the wigwam in flames and 
sees three men mounting their horses and hastening 
away. One of them he recognizes as Charles Innis. 
Hurrying to the burning cabin, Matchacoopah rescues 
his sick wife, already scorched by the flames. 

All that he had in the house, his furniture and pro- 
visions for the winter, were destroyed — ten bushels of 
corn, two bushels of dried roasted corn (or corn dried 
in the sun), one new streaked white blanket, one gun, 
two chests, a shirt, three brass kettles, twenty-one 
arm's lengths of roe?ioke, four Indian belts, twenty 
bowls, one raw doeskin, besides spook-baskets and 
mats for their bed. These items we record as sworn 
to on the trial, in order to give a glimpse into the 
cabin of a Nanticoke of to-day.* 

On the 4th of December, Innis is brought to trial, 
and is bound over to keep the peace until the case 
shall be tried before the provincial court at Annapolis. 
In all crimes where life has been endangered, or where 
life or limb is the penalty, the upper court alone has 

* Somerset records, 1706. The item "bowls" uncertain; seems 
rather to be "boles." 



414 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1706. 

jurisdiction. This is a serious matter for Innis, and it 
is to be hoped that the two accompHces may also be 
discovered and brought to trial. There are no offences 
which the court at Dividing Creek is more ready to 
punish than wrongs against the Indians. 

Says Matchacoopah of our colonists, 

" Some zvee-eet (good), some mat-tit (bad) ; but the 
good whites are stronger than the bad whites." 

So may it ever be — in Church and in State ! And 
now our friend Matchacoopah has his name immortal- 
ized upon the public records. 

The obstructions raised in the way of the young 
"assistants" have not prevented Mr. Makemie from 
pushing forward his plan for a thorough organization 
of the Presbyterian system in America. The forerun- 
ner of Trail, Davis, Thomas Wilson, John Wilson, Josias 
Mackie, Nathaniel Taylor, and bringing over two more 
helpers last year no less sound, he has hoped to see 
the blessed results of these long years of waiting 
moulded and compacted for future enlargement. Our 
churches have been without any central bond of 
union. There has been too little to distinguish them 
from the Independency which Mr. Makemie does not 
approve. Kind and tolerant to all who hold the 
fundamentals of Christianity, he loves Presbyterian- 
ism and wishes to see it established upon its own 
distinctive basis. There are enough ministers now 
to form an efficient Presbytery of a thorough Scotch 
type. 

Mr. Andrews and Mr. Makemie have become warm 
friends, and the strong personality of our Scotch- 
Irish pioneer is likely to impress itself so deeply upon 
the younger man that the latter shall grow as stout a 



A. D. i7o6.] THE DAYS OF MAKE MIE. 415 

Presbyterian as any. The fact that the yearly sessions 
of Presbytery shall continue to be held in his new- 
church in Philadelphia cannot fail to enlist his sym- 
pathies and admiration more and more for our script- 
ural forms. 

And so it is arranged. The selection of place is 
good, for several reasons : It is central ; it is the near- 
est colony where perfect religious freedom is enjoyed. 
The visits of Lord Cornbury and the efforts of the 
Episcopalians to secure him for governor and thereby 
bring an ecclesiastical despotism to Philadelphia have 
failed. There the Presbytery will be free and untram- 
meled, for the following law still prevails in Pennsyl- 
vania : 

"All persons living in this province, who confess and acknowl- 
edge one Almighty and Eternal God to be the Creator, Upholder 
and Ruler of the world, and that hold themselves obliged in con- 
science to live peaceably and justly in civil society, shall in no 
ways be molested or prejudiced for their religious persuasion or 
practice in matters of faith and worship ; nor shall they be com- 
pelled, at any time, to frequent or maintain any religious worship, 
pla-ce or ministry, whatever." 

Besides these reasons for selecting Philadelphia, it is 
also probable that the influence of the Presbytery there 
held will gradually reach those churches in the Jerseys 
and on Long Island, ^nd perhaps in New England, 
where there is strong Presbyterian sentiment, and 
finally bring them into union with us, a beacon to 
light them into safe harbor after a while. 

We recall again George Keith's prophecy of three 
years ago : " They have here a Presbyterian meeting 
and minister, one called Andrews ; but they are not 
like to increase." Would it not astonish the prophet 
to see, before three years have passed, that new church 



41 6 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1706. 

on High street [now Market], a goodly congregation 
assembled, and the vigorous young Presbytery in ses- 
sion ? There our ministers meet and organize and de- 
liberate upon the interests of Christ's kingdom on this 
vast continent. Widely to the north and south and 
west the thinly-populated country and its unexplored 
regions stretch away, while here at the gate stands this 
heroic band, sending forth our scriptural system of 
doctrine and of church-government to the New 
World and the new century. Prelacy looks on from 
the one side, prognosticating failure; Quakerism looks 
on from the other, averring that it is only of men 
and Babylonish. There sits Mr. Makemie in the mod- 
erator's chair, rejoicing in the final fulfillment of hope 
long deferred, triumphant at last. Here, successfully 
planted, is a primitive Presbytery composed of primi- 
tive bishops. 

In addition to the usual oversight of churches and 
ministers, it is decided that sermons shall be preached 
at each annual meeting by two ministers upon texts 
previously assigned, these sermons to be subject to 
criticism by the rest of the brethren. The Epistle to 
the Hebrews is to be expounded in regular order. 
The first and second verses are assigned respectively 
to Mr. Makemie and to Mr. John Wilson. They are 
inclined to put Mr. Makemie first in everything. My 
father says that it was in this way after apostolic days 
that in the Church, composed wholly of coequal Pres- 
byters, certain men of natural gifts and influence were 
gradually advanced to precedence, until finally, in the 
corruptions of the times, those who were only moder- 
ators dX ^YSt, priini inter pares, began to grasp at per- 
manent power and became transformed into diocesan 



A. D. 1706.] THE DAYS OF MAKE M IE. 417 

bishops. There is no danger of this from the author 
of Truths in a True Light. 

When Presbytery adjourns, it is with the under- 
standing that the moderator and Mr. Hampton and 
Mr. Andrews meet in Freehold in the Jerseys for the 
purpose of examining and ordaining the candidate, 
Mr. John Boyd. The arrangement suits our ministers 
very well, as Mr. Makemie and Mr. Hampton are ex- 
pecting to make a journey to New York, and probably 
to Boston. It will give our organizer an opportunity 
to confer with the Dissenters along the way and learn 
what suitable material may be found ready for mould- 
ing into the Presbytery now established. His broad 
plans comprise all the colonies; and why should not 
the same comprehensive management which has suc- 
ceeded in bringing Virginia, Maryland and Pennsyl- 
vania under this one court of the Lord be able in 
course of time to include the other provinces ? 

During the Christmas holidays the three ministers 
meet at Freehold — a village full of memories of the 
dark days of Scotland's agonies. Mr. Walter Ker, 
banished from his native land in 1685, is still there, 
and can talk with Mr. Makemie of the times of perse- 
cution in Lanarkshire aggravated by the malignant 
curate Joseph Clelland, then as zealous against Pres- 
byterians as the Somerset rectors of to-day.* There 
too he will meet with John Foreman, John Hender- 
son, John Foord, and other sturdy old exiles. Not 
to be satisfied with any but the purest Presbyterianism, 
as soon as a Presbytery is formed they look at once to 
this authoritative court for a minister. 

For a long while immigration to East Jersey has 
* Walter Ker was the ancestor of the Somerset Kers. 
27 



41 8 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1706, 

been largely from New England. These Independents 
preponderating in numbers, all compromises between 
Presbyterianism and Independency have necessarily 
inclined to the advantage of the latter. Thus most 
of the congregations have been formed. But these 
Scotchmen have as positive grounds for opposition 
to Independency as to Prelacy. We learn that the 
probationer Boyd is a Scotchman.* 

In the church known as "The Scotch Meeting- 
House " they proceed to " the trials " of the young 
man. Those of us who know the moderator can 
have no doubt of the thoroughness of the work. The 
subject assigned as the ** common head " — De regimine 
EcclesicB — seems very appropriate at this juncture, when 
the government of our American Church is assuming 
its permanent form. Again we seem to see in it the 
hand of Mr. Makemie. Twenty-five years ago, when 
the Presbytery of Laggan was selecting subjects for 
himself and Mr. Alexander Marshall, De reghnine 
Ecclesice contra Ei'astianos was the one assigned to the 
latter. America is no less interested in such questions 
to-day than Ireland was then. 

On Friday, Mr. Boyd preaches from the twelfth 
verse of the first chapter of John : " For as many as 
received him, to them gave he power to become the 
sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." 
He defends his thesis presented in the morning, is 
examined upon the languages, and is questioned by 
the brethren as they think fit. All his parts of trial 
are sustained, and his ordination is appointed for the 
approaching Sabbath, the 29th. 

We can imagine the enthusiastic assembling of the 

* Hodge, p. 78; name of church, p. 71. 



A. D. 1706.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 419 

people from the town and the country around on God's 
holy day to hear the sermons and witness the cere- 
monies. When Cornbury came into power over this 
colony, four years ago, he ordered that the Prayer- 
Book be used in the churches, that the sacraments 
be administered only by persons episcopally ordained, 
and that all ministers without ordination of that sort 
report themselves to the Bishop of London.* I do 
not think that Mr. Boyd is likely to report to that 
high functionary for apostolic virtue, appreciating, far 
higher than anything the bishop can confer, the laying 
on of the hands of the Presbytery in true apostolic 
form and the certificate of ordination which they 
give him on Monday. The indignation of the gov- 
ernor may be expected. Cornbury might himself 
have learned something valuable from our young 
minister's common head, De regimine Ecclesice. 

So goes out the eventful year 1706, wearing in its 
last days as a coronal the first purely Presbyterian 
ordination in the New World — harbinger, we hope, 
of many yet to be (71). 

* Webster, p. 88. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 
A. D. 1707. 

" Was there ever a time wherein more occasion was given to all en- 
emies of our holy religion to reproach and ridicule Christianity than 
now, while we observe such a contradiction between the lives and the 
pretenses of the professors of this age?" — Makemie. 

WITH little Francis at our side, William and I 
talk of our absent pastor. My husband has 
lately been by the Makemie mill at Assawaman, where 
its wheels constantly roll beneath the eaves of the Epis- 
copal church on the hill. Our pioneer's large busi- 
ness, whether of milling, merchandise, farming, com- 
merce or settling estates, is all left promptly behind 
whenever the voice of the Master is heard calling to 
the gospel field. The new church at Rehoboth, the 
new church at Monokin and the successful Presbytery 
in Philadelphia all tell of a spirit of religious enterprise 
as practical and energetic as that which he has shown 
in the management of his secular affairs. 

William startles me by saying that he has been 
thinking of late that Mr. Makemie seems to be striv- 
ing to have all his plans so far advanced that his own 
removal may not interfere with their assured triumph. 
W^hat put that into William's head? Yet, when I 
reflect, it does look as if he had been working very 
assiduously since his return from Europe that all his 
designs may be brought toward a certainty of con- 
summation. Is he feeling that the time is hastening 

420 



A. D. 1707.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 42 1 

when these interests must be handed over to Mr. Mac- 
nish and Mr. Hampton ? Is this the reason that he 
has taken Mr. Hampton with him upon this long jour- 
ney of exploration and of conference with those 
like-minded to the north ? What could we do with- 
out him ? 

Brother John and my Huguenot sister-in-law, with 
their little Francis, come in to spend the evening. 
Seeing the sadness on my brow, the sweet singer of 
the Vincennes seeks to arouse us all with one of the 
lighter songs of the Troubadour Peter Vidal : 

" Thy breeze is blowing on my cheeks, 

O land of lyre and lance ! 
In every gush to me it speaks 

Of her I love and France. 
'Twas there I sang and won renown, 

'Twas there my heart I gave 
Unto the dame whose cruel frown 

Me forth an exile drave. 
How pleasant every breeze that leaves 

The land of lyre and lance ! 
How welcome every voice that weaves 

A tale of her and France!" 

Thus many an exile breathes again in imagination 
the airs of the fatherland. Soon will Margaret be 
chanting one of the solemn hymns of Marot. Per- 
haps this very evening the blue-eyed Peggy is hum- 
ming a tune of Ulster to her cluster of little ones — 
children of the father who once lay almost starving 
under the walls of Derry, and who used to send his 
rhymes of devotion to the maiden across the sea. 
Over yonder, in another log nursery, Mary, the Scotch 
mother, still rosy-cheeked, is probably singing one of 
the psalms of old Rouse, while her native-born Amer- 



422 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

ican husband builds the needed cradle from the section 
of a hollow tree, timing his strokes to the chords of the 
music. Before the day is done they will all be teach- 
ing their boys and girls from the Catechism of Mr. 
Makemie. So grows the household in the wilderness. 

Through the open door I hear the voice of Assa- 
teague Weegnonah telling our boys the Nanticoke 
names for the household's constituent parts : 

** Wahocki, a man ; acquahique , a woman ; 7iups-soh- 
soh, a husband ; nee-ee-wah, wife ; itow-ose, father ; 
nick, mother; awauntit, a child; wahocki-awaimtit, a 
boy ; peekquah, a girl ; nucks-quali, a son ; Jiiuitawn, a 
daughter ; nee-ee-mat, a brother ; nivipz, an older sis- 
ter; neighsiim, a younger sister." 

Meanwhile, Mr. Makemie and Mr, Hampton are 
preaching in East Jersey and laboring to extend the 
boundaries of the new Presbytery. At Woodbridge 
there are staunch Presbyterians ready to fall in at once 
with the great movement, but they are impeded by an 
element of New Englanders who prefer the Independ- 
ent way, and who, all over that country, have the 
advantage of first settlement and of organizations 
working hitherto under their system. Here again 
our minister hears the familiar accent of old Scotland 
— the voices of those transported from the prisons of 
Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling in 1685, who had 
listened, during that terrible voyage of suffering and 
death, to the earnest tones of the Rev. Archibald Rid- 
del, whose wife and many others had found a watery 
grave before they reached the shore. They now listen 
to a minister no less firm to his convictions, no less 
ready to go to prison for the truth, than was Riddel 
himself when he lay for years in the Bass, near Edin- 



A. D. 1707.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 423 

burgh, rather than promise to preach no more. Mr. 
Makemie's sermon is from the text, " Now consider 
this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces 
and there be none to dehver. Ps. L. 22." * 

Mr. Makemie's preaching is largely expository ; and 
the more doctrinal, the more practical. 

The ministers are also in Newark, at the house of 
Mr. Jasper Crane, conferring with him, Mr. Samuel 
Melyen and others in reference to the interests of our 
Church. For this they will be called to account ere 
long ; the spies of the government will be trying to 
hatch treason against Church and State out of this 
friendly conversation. Finally, the travelers pass over 
to the little town of New York. They are now under 
the shadow of the castle of Lord Cornbury himself 

Here there is a Reformed Dutch church, also one 
of French Huguenots. A small circle of Presbyte- 
rians are in the habit of meeting together in private 
houses for reading the Scriptures and for prayer and 
praise. They are true men and tried. One of these, 
a lawyer of talents and growing influence, Mr. David 
Jamison, was imprisoned for his religion in Europe 
and brought to this country and sold into servitude 
for a term of years. I hear also of Captain John 
Theobalds, John Vanhorn, a merchant, Anthony 
Young and William Jackson, both of the latter also 
banished from Scotland for devotion to Christ and 
Presbyterianism.f Among such as these, our mis- 
sionaries find congenial spirits and warm welcomes. 

Mr. Makemie and Mr. Hampton are passing pub- 
licly through the provinces, having nothing to con- 
ceal. On Friday, the 17th of January, Mr. Jackson 

* So he tells us in New York sermon. f Webster, p. 302, 



424 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

waits on the governor and tells him that two ministers 
from the South are in the town and would like to speak 
with him. They well know the character of Lord 
Cornbury, and are determined that nothing covert or 
clandestine shall be charged against them. Under 
some sudden impulse of clemency or of diplomacy, 
the governor sends back an invitation for them to dine 
with him. Is it for the purpose of learning their de- 
signs and taking the measure of the men ? Is it to 
make friends to the southward in the hope of extend- 
ing his authority in that direction, according to the 
plans of the Episcopalians of Pennsylvania and Mary- 
land? 

Our pioneer sits at the table of the grandson of the 
Earl of Clarendon, the cousin of Queen Anne. Is it 
any higher honor than to be entertained at the houses 
of Stevens, Jenkins, King and other settlers of the 
Eastern Shore, with characters far less impeachable 
than that of the governor of New York ? But our 
minister observes the Bible injunction to honor the 
powers that be. Of the magistrate or ruler he de- 
clares here in New York : 

" The subject oweth allegiance, loyalty and obedience to his 
just and lawful commands, for he is the minister of God for 
good ; and this is due by virtue of a divine command and ap- 
pointment." 

Therefore there is no hesitation in Mr. Makemie's 
submitting himself unto governors and paying them 
the respect due their lofty station. Lord Cornbury 
treats them very courteously, " being willing," he says, 
*' to show what civility I could to men of that charac- 
ter." * 

* Letter to commissioners of plantations, October 14. 



A. D. 1707.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE, 425 

Anxious to hear the gospel from Makemie's lips, the 
few Presbyterians apply to both the Dutch and the 
French for the use of their churches ; deterred by fear 
of Cornbury, this request is denied. It is said that 
Mr. Young made application to the governor for per- 
mission for them to preach in the Dutch church and 
was refused. Strangely enough, Lord Cornbury de- 
nies that any such application was made. Our mmis- 
ters, intending to hurry on their way, had not expected 
to preach, had not mentioned it to the governor, and 
had nothing to do with these applications ; but, think- 
ing themselves protected by their certificates from 
courts of record in Barbadoes, Virginia and Maryland, 
they are ready to proclaim the gospel whenever oppor- 
tunity offers and wherever the people provide a place. 

Finally, it is decided to hold worship with open 
doors at the house of William Jackson, on Pearl 
street. There Mr. Makemie preaches to a small con- 
gregation and baptizes a babe. In the audience is a 
servant of Cornbury's, "one of Caesar's household." 
To that little audience, who had been driven from 
their homes and churches in Europe, it is a precious 
privilege to hear the truth once more in the tones of 
their native heaths, and to bring the child and have it 
consecrated to God in the arms of one of their own 
faith. Who shall envy the little band of exiles the 
rare privilege ? No one knows what is coming, nor 
dreams tha't the ecclesiastical despotism which has 
been defeated upon the fields of Scotland is now to 
make a desperate stand in the streets of New York. 
This is the less to be expected when we remember that 
the charter granted to this province by that bigoted 
Papist the Duke of York guarantees : 



426 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

" Persons which profess in godlyness Jesus Christ shall at all 
times have and fully enjoy their judgments and consciences in 
matters of religion." 

Let it be known too that there is upon the statute- 
book a law as follows : 

" No person or persons, which profess faith in God by Jesus 
Christ his only Son, shall at any time be any way molested, 
punished, disturbed, disquieted, or called in question, for any 
difference of opinion or matter of religious concernment, who do 
not under that pretence disturb the civil peace of the province. 
And all and every such person and persons may from time to 
time and at all times hereafter freely have and fully enjoy his or 
their religion, persuasion and judgment in matters of conscience 
and religion throughout all this province, and there worship ac- 
cording to their respective persuasions, without being hindered or 
molested." 

Protected by such laws and by his certificates, Mr. 
Makemie speaks upon another verse of the same psalm 
from which he had preached at Woodbridge: "To him 
that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the 
salvation of God." We have heard him at Rehoboth 
preach both morning and afternoon from this text. 
His New York audience, listening to but few sermons 
since they left the old country, will not complain of 
the length. About this he says : 

" When you are informed I designed it for two discourses, 
you need not be amazed at its bulk, beyond the new mode of 
preaching." 

Mr. Makemie has not failed to notice the disposition 
of a degenerate age to cut down into but an hour or 
two the three- or four-hour sermons of the days of the 
martyrs. 

This discourse is as full of Scripture as was Peter's 
on the day of Pentecost. The introduction holds up 
the Bible as a clear looking-glass in which we may 



A. D. 1707.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 427 

behold the sinner's condition and needs and find a 
universal guide for faith and conduct. The psalm is 
briefly outlined and expounded, and then he says : 

" The promise annexed as the improvement and apphcation in 
part of the foregoing doctrine, is my text." 

Attention is called to its two parts : 

" First, A large, comprehensive, rich and enriching promise, 
assured and manifested, ' I will show the salvation of God,' Sec- 
ond, The person particularly described to whom the promise is 
made, 'To him that ordereth his conversation aright.' " 

Mr. Makemie analyzes everything. He shows four 
points in the promise — the manifestation, " I will 
show;" the thing promised, salvation; a distinguish- 
ing account of this salvation magnifying the promise, 
it is the salvation of God ; and the Promiser, God. 

Having fully *' opened the words," he raises this prop- 
osition — that a well-ordered conversation is the only 
way to eternal salvation : 

" Not the meritorious, procuring cause, for that were to assert 
downright Popish merit, in derogation to free grace and the effi- 
cacious merits of our Redeemer. But I assert and maintain it, 
for all adult believers, to be the pathway to the kingdom of 
Heaven — the via regtii, though not causa regnandiy 

His theme is to be handled upon the following 
method : What is presupposed by an orderly walk and 
conversation ? What a well-ordered conversation is 
or wherein it consists; reasons why a well-ordered 
conversation is highly necessary as the way of salva- 
tion; what is necessary and requisite for promoting 
and advancing this well-ordered conversation ; what 
usually and ordinarily hinders and obstructs it ; and 



428 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

a practical application : first, for information ; second, 
for exhortation ; third, for consolation. This sermon 
is most fitting to time and place in its earnest protests 
against the laxness of the times. 

Mr. Makemie himself said of the discourse : 

" I am now committing it to the public view of all, that both 
you and they may try it at the bar of Scripture, law and reason, 
and impartially determine whether it contains anything favoring 
of pernicious doctrine and principles ; anything to the disturb- 
ance of the Church of England and the government. If I had 
been thoroughly acquainted with New York and the irregularities 
thereof, which I was afterward an eye and ear witness of, I could 
not have fixed on a more suitable doctrine ; which must be pure- 
ly attributed to the divine Providence." 

Yea, and if our minister had known all about the 
base character and profligate life of Lord Cornbury, 
he could not have proclaimed a message of more with- 
ering rebuke to that "noble patron of the church," * 

Mr. Makemie remains with his friends in New York 
Monday, January 20, unconscious of having committed 
any crime in preaching the gospel to the destitute 
(72). On Tuesday he crosses over to Long Island, 
expecting the next day to preach at Newtown, where 
Mr. Hampton had preached on the Sabbath. This 
town, formerly called Middlebury, was settled by In- 
dependents ; but, like most of the towns on this end 
of the island, there are Presbyterians among them 
who are glad to welcome ministers of their own per- 
suasion. Those unfamiliar with the distinctive differ- 
ences sometimes speak of them as Independents, 
sometimes as Presbyterians. 

Meanwhile, there is excitement in New York. 

* For the character of Cornbury, see Smith's History of New York, 
i. 190-194. 



A. D. 1707.] THE DA YS OF MAKE MI E. 429 

Word has been carried to the castle that a veritable 
conventicle has been gathered on Pearl street — that 
the strolling preacher from the South has held wor- 
ship in a private house with over five persons and ad- 
ministered baptism ; and of course there is no telling 
what treasonable plots have been hatched. Worse 
still, these men have been preaching previously in 
His Lordship's province of East Jersey, and there, 
where His Lordship has undertaken to see that none 
shall preach except under authority from the Bishop 
of London, these fanatics have actually presumed to 
ordain young men to the ministry ! Now they are 
persisting in their contempt for his will, and are pur- 
suing their high-handed course under the eaves of 
Fort Anne. It must be stopped ! The following 
warrant is hurried off upon their tracks : 

" Whereas I am informed that one Mackennan and one Hamp- 
ton, two Presbyterian preachers who lately came to this city, have 
taken it upon them to preach in a private house without having 
obtained my license for so doing, which is directly contrary to 
the known laws of England ; And being likewise informed that 
they are gone into Long Island with intent there to spread their 
pernicious doctrine and principles, to the great disturbance of the 
Church by law established, and of the government of this prov- 
ince ; You are therefore hereby required and commanded to take 
into your custody the bodies of the said Makennan and Hampton 
and them to bring with all convenient speed before me at Fort 
Anne in New York. Given under my hand, at Fort Anne, this 
2 1 St day of January, 1707. 

" CORNBURY." 

It must again be stated that there is no " Church by 
law established " in the province of New York, and 
that all pretensions that way are sheer, shameless 
usurpation. The only statute upon which that claim 
is based was passed in 1693, and about this law Mr. 



430 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

Makemie makes the following uncontrovertible state- 
ments : 

" I. This law is not general, for the whole government, but for 
four counties where there are nine. 2. It was made upon the 
motion and application of sundry Dissenters on Long Island who 
are yet alive, who expected another benefit by it than they have 
since been treated with. 3. It was made by an Assembly who 
were generally Dissenters and who are so to this day. 4. There 
is not any mention of the Church of England, or the mode or 
manner of the Church of England's worship, government or 
ceremonies, in all the law ; without which I cannot imagine 
they have an establishment. 5. Every sufficient Protestant 
minister, duly called according to the directions of said law, 
has a right hereunto and none else ; and that Dissenters, for 
whom this law was originally designed, are deemed and called 
ministers and men in holy orders, is plain from the express words 
of the Act of Toleration. 6. It is observable, at the time this law 
was made, there was not a Church-of-England clergyman in all 
that country, and for some time after. 7. By the last clause of 
the law, all former agreements made between ministers and peo- 
ple were confirmed and ratified ; and all such were then, and are 
to this day, Dutch, French and British Dissenters." 

It is clear that the " good sufficient Protestant min- 
ister" mentioned in this law of 1693 had no more ref- 
erence to the Church of England than to any other 
Church. Governor Fletcher had at once tried to 
fasten his own meaning upon it — that it was made 
for the sole benefit of Prelacy; but in 1695 the As- 
sembly interpreted the act to mean otherwise, and to 
authorize churches " to call a Dissenting Protestant 
minister ; and that he is to be paid and maintained as 
the act directs." 

Nevertheless, under their own false and violent con- 
struction of the law, the governors have continued 
their tyrannical course for imposing a repulsive eccle- 
siastical system and its extortions upon an unwilling 



A. D. 1707.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 43 1 

people. Notwithstanding Vesey's success in building 
up Trinity church, and the influence of the govern- 
ment there and elsewhere, Mr. Makemie testifies that 
even yet only one out of twenty of the population is 
Episcopal. 

The warrant is directed to the high sheriff of 
Queen's county or his deputy. The sheriff — Thomas 
Cardale — is one of the worst men in the county, well 
known to be a fellow of low and mean character (73). 
This is not the first time he has been the willing tool 
of the oppressor. In 1702 he had in custody the 
Quaker preacher Samuel Bownas for nearly a year, 
under charge of speaking disparagingly of the Church 
of England. George Keith, who is still harassing his 
former fellow-religionists in England,* instigated the 
usurpations of Cornbury and set on foot the prosecu- 
tion. The grand jury refused to find a bill and were 
browbeaten by the presiding judge, but, says Bownas, 
** the other Justices, being mostly Presbyterians, cared 
nothing." One of them said. 

"The judge frets because he cannot have his way of you, and 
the Governor is disgusted, he expecting to have made consider- 
able advantage by it." f 

Cardale was also fit instrument in the ejectment of 
the Dissenters of Jamaica, on Long Island, from their 
church and parsonage, holding the keys against the 
rightful owners and seizing the glebe, dividing it into 
lots and leasing them out for the support of ecclesias- 
tical buccaneers.J 

This is the man who serves Cornbury's warrant on 
our two ministers at Newtown on Tuesday evening. 

* Anderson's Colonial Church, iii. 232. f Bownas's Journal. 
J Macdonald's History of the Jamaica Church, in loco. 



432 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

It being late, the prisoners are permitted to spend the 
night with their friends on their parole. The next 
day, instead of taking them directly to New York, 
Cardale and his deputy, Stephen Luff, carry them 
seven miles out of the way around by Jamaica, and 
remain there over Wednesday night. "As if they 
were to be carried about in triumph to be insulted 
over as exemplary criminals, and put to further 
charge," says Mr. Makemie. There is indeed little 
doubt but it is done as a defiance to the Presbyte- 
rians of Jamaica, adding new insult to former inju- 
ries. Here our ministers remain all night, shut up 
in the church as prisoners. 

This puts new emphasis upon the church-stealing 
of the past. Yonder stands the handsome parsonage 
of which the Dissenters had reason to be so proud, 
and in which Mr. Makemie and Mr. Hampton have a 
right to be entertained as honored guests to-night, 
but it is in possession of the intruder, the Rev. Mr. 
Urquhart. While speaking of the pretended Act of 
Establishment, Mr. Makemie says : 

" None.have any right unto, or should have any benefit by this 
Act, but he that is called by twelve men chosen by the free votes 
of the people of the county ; which Mr. Urquhart of Jamaica 
never had by any vote of the majority. Therefore he has as 
great a right to the salary there, as he has to the meeting-house, 
with the house and land he lives upon, of which the proprietors 
have been ousted with violence, without all legal process or eject- 
ment ; and being of fifteen hundred pounds value. It is a mat- 
ter of satisfaction that this practice is singular and not yet made 
a precedent of ; though Newtown is threatened by the same par- 
son." 

Two years ago this clergyman, Urquhart, and the 
Rev. Mr. Thomas, clergyman at Hempstead, wrote 



A. D. 1707.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 433 

thus in a joint-letter to the Venerable Propagation 
Society : 

" The ancient settlers have transplanted themselves from New 
England, and do still keep a close correspondence and are buoyed 
up by schismatical instruction from that interest, which occasions 
all the disturbance and opposition we meet with in our parishes. 
They have hitherto been used to a Dissenting ministry, and they 
still support one at Jamaica, which has a most pestilential influ- 
ence over our people who from their cradles were disaffected to 
conformity." 

What damaging admissions ! And yet, in the face 
of this righteous opposition from the large majority of 
the people, Mr. Urquhart is willing to occupy the pul- 
pit and parsonage properly belonging to the present 
young pastor, Mr. Francis Goodhue ! Near by is the 
grave of Hubbard, whose life, perhaps, was shortened 
by the persecutions of Cardale and Cornbury. Before 
the year closes, Mr. Goodhue also will be where the 
wicked no more can trouble (73). 

Last year Cotton Mather thus described Jamaica : 

"A town consisting of considerably above a hundred families, 
and exemplary for all Christian knowledge and goodness, and a 
church with a worthy pastor in it. About half a score of families 
(and of meaner character) in this town declared for the Church 
of England, and thereupon a minister of their profession was sent 
them, one Urquhart." 

After describing the seizure of church and parson- 
age, he adds : 

" If such things proceed, that noble Society for the Propaga- 
tion of Religion in America will greatly wound religion and their 
own reputation also." 

In the midst of these scenes Mr. Makemie and Mr. 
Hampton sleep on Wednesday night. Around them 

28 



434 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

are eloquent reminders of what they may expect at 
the hands of Lord Cornbury. 

About noon on Thursday the prisoners reach New- 
York under escort of these minions of tyranny. They 
are brought into the council-chamber about three or 
four o'clock. It has been two full days since their 
arrest but a few miles away. 

" How dare you take upon you to preach in my government 
without my Hcense ?" 

Such is the rude salutation of the governor. Our 
minister is not to be intimidated. To prevent misrep- 
resentation, Mr. Makemie tells us that the conference 
" was very soon committed unto writing." He answers : 

" We have hberty from an Act of Parliament, made the first 
year of the reign of King William and Queen Mary, which gave 
us liberty, with which law we have complied." 

Lord Cor7ibury. " None shall preach in my government with- 
out my license." 

Mr. Makemie. " If the law for liberty. My Lord, had directed 
us to any particular persons in authority for license, we would 
readily have observed the same ; but we cannot find any direc- 
tions in said Act of Parliament, therefore could not take notice 
thereof." 

Lord C. " That law does not extend to the American Planta- 
tions, but only to England." 

Mr. M. " My Lord, I humbly conceive it is not a limited or 
local Act, and am well assured it extends to other Plantations of 
the Queen's dominions, which is evident from Certificates from 
Courts of Record of Virginia and Maryland, certifying we have 
complied with said law." 

The certificates are produced and read, but the gov- 
ernor persists : 

" I know it is local and limited, for I was at the making 
thereof." 

Mr. M. " Your Excellency might be at the making thereof, 
but we are well assured there is no such limiting clause therein, 



A. D.I 707-] THE DAYS OF MAKE M IE. 435 

as is in Local Acts, and we desire the law may be produced to 
determine this point." 

The governor, turning to the attorney, Mr. Bekely, 
asks him : 



" Is it not so, Mr. Attorney ?" 
. Attorney. " Yes, it is local, My Lord." 

Mr. M. " I desire the Law may be produced; for I am morally 
persuaded there is no limitation or restriction in the Law to Eng- 
land, Wales and Berwick on Tweed ; for it extends to sundry 
Plantations of the Queen's dominions, as Barbadoes, Virginia 
and Maryland ; which was evident from the Certificates produced, 
which we could not have obtained, if the Act of Parliament 
had not extended to the Plantations. And I presume that New 
York is a part of Her Majesty's dominions, and sundry ministers 
on the East end of Long Island have complied with said Law 
and qualified themselves at Court by complying with the direc- 
tions of said Law, and have no license from Your Lordship." 

Lore/ C. " Yes, New York is of Her Majesty's dominions ; but 
the Act of Toleration does not extend to, the Plantations by its 
own intrinsic virtue, or any intention of the Legislators, but only 
by Her Majesty's Royal instructions signified unto me ; and that 
is from her prerogative and clemency. The Courts which have 
qualified those men are in error, and I shall check them for it." 

Mr. M. " If the law extends to the Plantations any manner of 
way; whether by the Queen's prerogative, clemency or other- 
wise'; our certificates are a demonstration that we have complied 
therewith." 

Lord C. " These Certificates were only for Virginia and Mary- 
land; they do not extend to New York." 

Mr. M. " We presume. My Lord, our Certificates do extend as 
far as the Law extends ; for we are directed by the Act of Parlia- 
ment to quahfy ourselves in the places where we live, which we 
have done ; and the same Law directs us to take Certificates of 
our qualification, which we have accordingly done; and these 
Certificates are not to certify to such as behold lis taking our 
qualification, -being performed in the face of the country, at a 
public court ; but our Certificates must be to satisfy others abroad 
in the world who saw it not nor heard anything of it— otherwise 
it would be needless. And the Law which obhges us to take a 
Certificate, must allow said Certificate to have a credit and 



436 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

reputation in Her Majesty's dominions — otherwise it is to no 
purpose." 

The governor takes refuge in a rude retort : 

" That Act of Parhament was made against strolUng preachers, 
and you are such and shall not preach in my government," 

Mr. M. " There is not one word, My Lord, mentioned in any 
part of the Law against traveling or strolling preachers, as Your 
Excellency is pleased to call them. We are to judge that to be 
the true end of the Law, which is specified in the Preamble there- 
of ; which is, for the satisfaction of scrupulous consciences and 
uniting the subjects of England in interest and affection. And 
it is well known, My Lord, to all, that Quakers who also have 
liberty by this Law, have few or no fixed teachers but are chiefly 
taught by such as travel ; and it is known to all that such are sent 
forth by the Yearly Meeting at London, and travel and teach over 
the Plantations and are not molested." 

Lord C. " I have troubled some of them and will trouble them 
more." 

Mr. M. "We hear, My Lord, one of them was prosecuted at 
Jamaica, but it was not for traveling or teaching, but for particu- 
lars in teaching, for which he suffered." - 

Lord C. "You shall not spread your pernicious doctrines 
here !" 

Mr. M. "As to our doctrines, My Lord, we have our Confes- 
sion of Faith, which is known to the Christian world, and I chal- 
lenge all the clergy of York to show us any false or pernicious 
doctrines therein ! Yea, with those exceptions specified in the 
Law, we are able to make it appear that they are in all doctrinal 
articles of faith agreeable to the established doctrines of the 
Church of England." 

Lord C. " There is one thing wanting in your Certificates, and 
that is, signing the Articles of the Church of England." 

Mr. M. " That is the Clerk's omission. My Lord, for which we 
are no way accountable. If we had not complied with the whole 
Law, in all the parts thereof, we could not have had Certificates 
pursuant to said Act of Parliament. And Your Lordship may be 
assured we have done nothing in complying with said Law but 
what we are still ready to perform, if Your Lordship require it; 
and that ten times over. As to the Articles of Religion, I have 

* Bownas. Charged with speaking disrespectfully of the Church of 
England in reference to baptism. 



A. D. 1707.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 437 

a copy in my pocket and am ready at all times to sign, with those 
exceptions specified in the Law." 

Lord C. " You preached in a private house not certified ac- 
cording to Act of Parhament." 

jVJr. M. "There were endeavors used for my preaching in a 
more public place, and— though without my knowledge— Your 
Lordship's permission was demanded for my preaching in the 
Dutch church ; and being denied, we were under a necessity of 
assembling for public worship in a private house, which we did 
in as public a manner as possible, with open doors. And we are 
directed to certify the same to the next Quarter Sessions, which 
cannot be done until the Quarter Sessions come in course— for 
the Law binds no one to impossibilities ; and if we do not certify 
to the next Quarter Sessions, we shall be culpable but not till 
then. For it is evident. My Lord, that this Act of Parliament 
was made and passed the royal assent May 24th. It being some 
time before the Quarter Sessions came in course, all ministers in 
England continued to preach without one day's cessation or for- 
bearance ; and we hope the practice of England shall be a pre- 
cedent for America." 

Lord C. " None shall preach in my government without my 
license, as the Queen has signified to me by her royal instruc- 
tions." 

3fr. M. " Whatever direction the Queen's Instructions may be 
to Your Lordship, they can be no rule or law to us, nor any par- 
ticular persons who never saw, and perhaps never shall see them ; 
for promulgation is the life of the law." 

The experience that Mr. Makemie has. had in the 
courts of Accomack and Somerset has not been in 
vain. 

Lord C. " You must give bond and security for your good be- 
havior, and also bond and security to preach no more in my 
government." 

Afr. M. "As to our behavior, though we have no way broke 
it, endeavoring always so to live as to keep a conscience void of 
offence toward God and man, yet if His Lordship required it, we 
would give security for our behavior ; but to give bond and se- 
curity to preach no more in Your Excellency's government, if 
invited and desired by any people, we neither can nor dare 
do." 

Lord C. " Then you must go to gaol." 



43^ THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

The spirit of the covenanting times was upon our 
minister. He answers : 

" We are neither ashamed nor afraid of what we have done ! 
We have complied and are ready still to comply with the Act of 
Parliament, which we hope will protect us at last. It will be un- 
accountable to England to hear that Jews who openly blaspheme 
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and disown the whole Chris- 
tian religion ; Quakers, who disown the fundamental doctrines 
of the Church of England and both sacraments ; Lutherans and 
all others ; are tolerated in Your Lordship's government, and 
only we, who have complied and are still ready to comply with 
the Act of Toleration, and are nearest to and likest the Church 
of England of any Dissenters, should be hindered, and that only 
in the Government of New York and the Jerseys. This will ap- 
pear strange indeed." 

Lord C. " You must blame the Queen for that." 
Air. M. " We do not, neither have we any reason to blame 
Her Majesty ; for she molests none, neither countenances or en- 
courages any who do ; and has given frequent assurances, and 
of late in her Gracious speech to her Parliament, That she would 
inviolably maintain the Toleration." 

Our champion is not to be placed in the false position 
of disloyalty to his queen. He alludes to her words at 
the close of the session of 1702 : 

" I shall be very careful to preserve and maintain the Act of 
Toleration and to set the minds of all my people at quiet."* 

While the governor writes an order transferring the 
prisoners from the custody of Cardale to that of Ebe- 
nezer Wilson, sheriff of New York, Mr. Hampton, who 
had hitherto remained silent, asks a license of His 
Lordship. It is refused. Mr. Makemie moves that 
the Law of Toleration be produced and examined to 
see if it is local and limited, offering to pay the attorney 
for a copy of the limiting clause. Says our pastor : 

" Everything relating hereunto was declined and disregarded." 
* Knight, V, 114. 



A. D. 1707.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 439 

Said Lord Cornbury, with a sneer worthy of the 
brutal Jeffreys : 

"You, sir, know law ?" 

Mr. M. "I do not, My Lord, pretend to know law; but I pre- 
tend to know this particular law, having had sundry disputes 
thereon." 

His own experience and the long contest provoked 
by Robert Keith and Alexander Adams had given 
him abundant opportunity to study its provisions. 

Our two ministers become prisoners of state in the 
house of the sheriff. A copy of the governor's order 
of commitment, frequently asked for, is not given them 
until Saturday. It is as follows : 

" You are hereby required and commanded to take into your 
custody the bodies of Francis Makemie and John Hampton and 
them safely keep until further orders ; and for so doing this shall 
be your warrant. Given under my hand and seal this 23rd day 
of Jan. 1707. 

" Cornbury.' 

Mr, Makemie's demand for a copy of the mittinms 
shows his purpose to contest the legality of the pro- 
ceedings at every step. He thus dissects the paper: 

" First ; It is granted and signed by the supreme authority, and 
not by any sworn officers appointed and authorized by law for 
commitment of offenders. The supreme authority of England 
have not put any such power into practice without a special act 
of Parliament empowering them so to do ; and that only upon 
necessity and emergent occasions. Second ; Here is no mention 
of the Queen's name or authority ; which must be acknowledged 
as a novelty not easily understood. Third ; There is not the least 
shadow of a crime or suspicion of a crime alleged. Fourth ; This 
mittimus is erroneous in conclusion ; which should be, ' Until 
they are delivered by due course of law,' and not, ' Until further 
orders,' which is condemned by law and lawyers as insufficient." 

Thus, under sheer usurpation of ecclesiastical power 
and under a commitment illegal in form, these two 



440 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

Presbyterian ministers go to prison. Our pioneer and 
his young friend take their places by the side of the 
old Scotch and Scotch-Irish worthies as sufferers in 
defence of civil and religious liberty. Well does Mr. 
Makemie remember when, under the spite of Bishop 
Leslie, his beloved pastor, John Drummond, and three 
others lay in confinement at Lifford for six years, and 
the later days when Mr. William Trail and others of 
the Presbytery of Laggan endured the same oppres- 
sion under High Churchmen. Deliberately facing 
these possibilities when first devoting himself to the 
ministry, he is not the man to waver when the hour 
of trial comes. 

Determined to exhaust all legal remedies, a respect- 
ful petition is sent, under the signatures of the two and 
by the hands of the sheriff, asking His Lordship that 
they be permitted to know their crime, not hinted in 
the mittimus^ and praying that, as 

" strangers on our journey to New England, above four hundred 
miles from our habitations, we may be allowed a speedy trial ac- 
cording to law." 

No written answer is condescended, and it is only 
after several days that the verbal answer is returned 
through the sheriff: 

"I. Lord Cornbury did admire they should petition to know 
their crime, he having so often told them. 2. If they take the 
right way, they may have a trial." 

They challenge a trial and inquire the way from both 
sheriff and attorney-general. Nothing is learned, and 
the imprisonment continues. Mr. Makemie says : 

"They resolved to arm themselves with patience, until they 



A. D. 1707.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 44I 

could obtain a writ of Habeas Corpus from the Hon. Roger 
Mompesson, Esq., Chief-Justice, who Hved in another Govern- 
ment and could sign no such Writ until he came into the Gov- 
ernment of New York." 

The chief-justice is in New Jersey, and will not be 
in New York before his March term. Says our pas- 
tor: 

" In the mean time, The Quarter Sessions for the city and 
county of New York being in course ; and being still absolute 
strangers to the Constitution of New York ; and being ready to 
manifest their readiness in complying with the Act of Toleration 
in all things ; they addressed Lord Cornbury by the following 
Petition : 

"The humble petition of Francis Makemie and John Hamp- 
ton most humbly sheweth — That whereas Your Lordship is 
pleased not to allow our Certificates from Courts of Record in 
Virginia and Maryland to reach Your Excellency's Government; 
Therefore we being Your Lordship's prisoners, must humbly pray 
we may be admitted in the custody of the Sheriff to apply our- 
selves to the Quarter Sessions, that we may there offer ourselves 
to qualification as the Law directs, which we are again ready to 
do ; we being resolved to reside in Your Lordship's Government. 
And we Your Excellency's most humble petitioners, and afflicted 
prisoners, as in duty bound, shall always pray." 

Of course the petitioners do not contemplate a per- 
manent residence, but only through the months neces- 
sary for the full settlement of these difficulties and for 
the vindication of the rights of their Church. Mr. 
Makemie had already argued, while before Cornbury, 
that the law is satisfied by applying to Xh^ first Quar- 
ter Sessions in course after preacliing. 

The governor spurns the petition and browbeats 
the messenger — another touch of the spirit of Jef- 
freys. This is done under the technical quibble that 
no names are signed to the petition. Then says Mr. 
Makemie : 



442 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

" We resolved to trouble His Excellency with no more peti- 
tions." 

Two weeks had now passed, when, on the 5th of 
February, the following was sent directly to the Quar- 
ter Sessions. I give the paper because of the attor- 
ney's pretence with regard to it, and because it is 
another step leading up to the first great trial for 
religious liberty on the continent of America: 

"Whereas your petitioners are Protestant ministers dissenting 
from the Church of England, who have Certificates from Courts 
of Record of Virginia and Maryland, certifying we have taken 
the oaths and performed all such qualifications as are required 
in an Act of Toleration made the first year of King William and 
Queen Mary for liberty of Their Majesties' Protestant and Dis- 
senting subjects ; which Certificates His Excellency Lord Corn- 
bury is not pleased to allow to extend to his government ; We 
therefore, Your Worships' humble petitioners, pray we may be 
admitted to appear in the custody of the Sheriff at the bar of 
your Court, to qualify ourselves again according to the particular 
directions of said Act of Toleration ; which in obedience to the 
Law we are always ready to do." 

This paper, duly signed, passed from hand to hand 
among the justices, but was not allowed to be read in 
open court. The attorney pronounced it a libel on 
Lord Cornbury, and instructed them that it was not 
their business to administer the qualifications. Where 
is there the shadow of libel on the governor? Amid 
all these wrongs, it is remarkable that our ministers 
remained so self-possessed as not once to speak evil 
of dignities. 

In the second section of the Toleration Act it is 
positively provided that 

"All and every person and persons already convicted ox pros- 
ecuted in order to cotiviction, that shall take the said oaths and 
subscribe the declaration, shall be henceforth exempt and dis- 
charged." 



A. D. 1707.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 443 

Such is the arbitrary disregard of all law by Lord 
Cornbury and his subservient officials. 

At the same court application is formally made that 
the house of William Jackson, on Pearl street, be re- 
corded as henceforth a regular place of worship. 
These petitions, kept in hand for two days with the 
law read and explained, were both rejected. This, 
too, notwithstanding the fact that the same court had 
lately recorded a Quaker meeting-house upon similar 
petition and under these same provisions of law ! It 
is evident that tyranny is determined to crush Presby- 
terianism if it can. 

After weeks more of illegal imprisonment, they hear 
that the chief-justice has reached New York to preside 
at the March assizes. Mr. Regniere, a practicing law- 
yer, and a son-in-law of Colonel Markham, deputy 
governor of Pennsylvania, has been retained by Mr. 
Makemie to undertake the defence. Through him ap- 
plication is made for writ of habeas corpus. The ille- 
gal mittimus of Lord Cornbury is attached to the peti- 
tion, and, as this mittimus alleges no crime against the 
prisoners, it is supposed that they will be immediately 
discharged. And now two pieces of arrant wrong are 
perpetrated— one by the sheriff, and the other by the 
sheriff and the governor together. 

In the presence of three witnesses, the sheriff refuses 
to take any step for securing the writ of habeas corpus 
until the ministers have paid him twelve " pieces-of- 
eight" for their illegal commitment, and as much 
more for executing the present writ.* The money is 
paid, and a receipt for it is asked and refused ! 

*A " piece-of-eight " was equal to about one dollar; twenty-four 
dollars in all. 



444 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

Meanwhile, the governor promptly substitutes an- 
other warrant, thereby plainly admitting the illegality 
of the former, and confessing that these victims of his 
despotic will have suffered six weeks of unlawful im- 
prisonment. This second sudden warrant, of precisely 
the same date with the writ of Jiabeas corpus, is as 
follows : 

" You are hereby required and commanded to take into your 
custody the bodies of Francis Makemie and John Hampton, pre- 
tended Dissenting ministers, for preaching in this province with- 
out quahfying themselves according to an Act of Parliament 
made at Westminster in the first year of the reign of our late 
Sovereign Lord and Lady, King William and Queen Mary, and 
also without my License first obtained ; and them safely to keep 
till they shall be discharged by due course of law : And for so 
doing this shall be your sufficient warrant. Given under my 
hand and seal this 8th day of March, 1707. 

" CORNBURY." 

This late warrant is thus criticised by Mr. Makemie: 

" It is observable that it is granted and signed by the supreme 
authority (the Governor) without mentioning the Queen's name 
or authority. And the supposed crime is double ; ist, Preaching 
in New York Government without complying with the qualifica- 
tions of the Act of Parliament made in the first year of William 
and Mary, whereas Lord Cornbury had read in January their 
Certificates, both from Virginia and Maryland, certifying their 
qualification according to said Act of Parliament. 2d, Preaching 
without License being first obtained of Lord Cornbury ; whereby 
it is plain that complying with the Law is not esteemed sufficient 
without a License." 

My father says that a lawyer will appreciate these 
strictures. Let it be remembered, too, that when the 
second mittimus was written they had complied with 
the Toleration Act even in New York by tendering 
themselves to the Quarter Sessions to take the lawful 
oaths. It is noticeable that the governor here con- 



A. D. 1707.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 445 

fesses what he previously so emphatically denied — 
that the Toleration Act is in force in New York. 

The habeas corpus is granted on Saturday, and com- 
mands that they be brought before the chief-justice 
" immediately upon receiving the writ ;" but it is not 
executed until Monday. Sheriff and governor are 
evidently in collusion in these delays. On Monday 
they are before Mompesson, and are discharged upon 
their recognizances to appear for trial at the next day's 
sitting. Dr. John Johnstone and Mr. William Jackson 
become their bail in a bond for twenty pounds, and Mr. 
Makemie himself for forty pounds. This Dr. Johnstone 
is a Scotchman who came over in 1685 in the ship in 
which died his father-in-law, George Scott of Pitlochie, 
his mother-in-law and many others. Knowing what 
imprisonment and oppression mean, having learned it 
well in the days of Claverhouse and Dalziel, the doctor 
witnesses with indignation this high-handed attempt to 
introduce the same persecutions upon these Western 
shores. 

On Tuesday, March 11, the accused are arraigned 
for trial. The attorney drops Mr. Hampton out of 
the prosecution. Mr. Makemie says : 

" For reasons best known to himself, though both equally guilty 
of the same crime, of preaching a sermon in the Government of 
New York, and having suffered equally by imprisonment." 

Now our pioneer stands alone, the cause of Ameri- 
can and Presbyterian liberty embodied in one man. 
Says our pastor : 

"To such as knew the Grand Jury, they plainly appeared to be 
chosen on purpose to find a presentment." 

While some of them were utter novices in such pro- 



446 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

ceedings, several of them were of the bench of justices 
who at the late Quarter Sessions had prejudged the case 
and refused to let the ministers qualify. One of them, 
who at that time was inclined to grant their petitions, 
*' was threatened as to his trade and business." 

Four of Mr. Makemie's hearers — Captain Theobalds, 
Mr. John Vanhorn, Mr. Anthony Young and Harris, 
the governor's coachman — testify that " they heard no 
unsound doctrine nor anything against the Govern- 
ment." There is little else of importance before the 
grand jury, but their action in this case is withheld 
for four days — until Friday, the last day of the court, 
when they know it will be impossible for the accused 
to secure a hearing. Evidently, the prosecuting attor- 
ney is manipulating the business to please his master. 
This first indictment of the kind in America ought to 
be preserved : 

" The Jurors of our Sovereign Lady the Queen upon their oath 
do present that Francis Makemie, late of the province of Vir- 
ginia, Gentleman, pretending himself to be a Protestant Dis- 
senting Minister and Preacher, and contemning and endeavor- 
ing to subvert the supremacy, jurisdiction and authority of our 
now Lady and Queen in ecclesiastical affairs, the 22nd day of 
January and fifth year of the Queen's reign, to wit, at the South- 
ward of the City of New York, did privately and unlawfully take 
upon him to preach and teach, and did preach and teach divers 
of Her Majesty's liege subjects within the said City, to wit, at 
the dwelling-house of one William Jackson, situated in the ward 
aforesaid, privately and unlawfully then and there met and as- 
sembled together, to above the number of five persons at one 
time, under the pretence of divine worship, without any leave or 
license by him the said Francis first had and obtained according 
to law for the same, in great derogation of the Royal authority 
and prerogative of Our Lady the Queen, and to the evil exam- 
ple of all others in like case offending against the peace of Our 
Lady, her crown and dignity. 

"And the Jurors aforesaid upon their oath aforesaid, do further 



A. D. 1707.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 447 

present that the said Francis Makemie afterward, to wit, the 
22nd day of January in the year aforesaid, at the city and ward 
aforesaid, and at the dweUing-house of the said WilHam Jackson, 
did privately and unlawfully assemble and gather together divers 
of Her Majesty's subjects unknown, and did then and there vol- 
untarily and unlawfully use other rites, ceremonies, form and 
manner of Divine worship than what are contained in a certain 
Book of Common Prayer, and administration of the sacraments 
and of other rites and ceremonies of the Church of England, 
against the form of the statute in that case made and provided, 
and against the peace of Our Lady the Queen, her crown and 
dignity. 

"And the Jurors aforesaid do further present that the said 
Francis Makemie afterward, to wit, the 22nd day of January, in 
the fifth year aforesaid, being then, and now is, a person not 
qualified by law to preach, teach and officiate in any congrega- 
tion or assembly for religious worship at the City aforesaid, to 
wit, at the Southward of the City, at the aforesaid dwelling-house 
of the said William Jackson, situate in the said ward, did take 
upon himself to preach, teach and officiate, and then and there 
did preach, teach and officiate in a congregation, assembly, con- 
venticle and meeting, not permitted or allowed by law, under 
color or excuse of religion, in other manner than according to 
the liturgy and practice of the Church of England. At which 
conventicle, meeting and assembly, were five persons or more 
assembled together, against the form of the statute in that case 
made and provided, against the peace of Our Lady the Queen, 
her crown and dignity." 

Such is this memorable document. 

Let it be noted again that " the statute in that case 
made and provided" is an utter assumption of the 
sycophantic jury — that there is no enactment upon 
the statute-book of New York estabhshing the 
Church of England or making it incumbent upon 
anybody to observe its forms. Into the hands of 
this jury had been put the explanatory act of 1695 
declaring that the act of 1693 was meant as much for 
the protection and maintenance of the worship and 
churches of Dissenters as any other. It must pro- 



44^ THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

voke a righteous indignation to hear this packed jury- 
saying upon their oaths and in the form of law that 
this meeting of godly men, where that noble sermon 
was preached and the little child was baptized in the 
name of the Holy Trinity, amid the solemn service of 
prayer and song, was " under pretence of Divine wor- 
ship," " under color or excuse of religion." 

So ends the first part in this drama. The case is 
deferred until the June term, and Mr. Makemie is re- 
leased under bond and security to return at that date, 
at great sacrifice of time and money, to stand trial. 
Forfeiture of bond would cost him far less than the 
expense of the long journey and the suit, and I have 
no doubt but Lord Cornbury thinks that this will be 
the end of the matter, and that he will be troubled 
no more by Mr. Makemie and the Presbyterians. We 
may safely prophesy that the governor has again mis- 
taken the spirit of the man. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 
A. D. 1707 (Continued). 

" I hope it will be no crime for Losejs to speak, in telling the World 
what we have sulifered on sundry accounts ; not only by Imprisonment 
and the exorbitant expensive prosecution ; and besides great loss of 
time, many diminutive reproaches upon our Reputations by a Set of 
men who could reach by their Short Horns to no higher degree of 
Persecution. And all this for Preaching one Sermon." — Makemie. 

MORE than four months has Mr. Makemie been 
absent from the banks of the Pocomoke. I 
think that Mr. Robert Keith and Mr. Alexander 
Adams are not a little elated at the turn matters have 
taken, learning that the certificates which they con- 
tested in Maryland have not been honored in New 
York, and that the possessors of these certificates 
have been held in durance vile. They would like it 
well, and admire Cornbury only the more, if the North- 
ern prison had remained permanently closed upon the 
two Dissenters. 

This infamous prosecution has not made some of us 
Marylanders feel any more kindly toward New York 
and what has been called the " Crown Requisitions," 
begun in 1692 for the defence of that colony against 
the French and Indians. 

Mr. Makemie is fully abreast of all the questions of 
the day, and he well says of his treatment in that 
province : 

29 449 



450 THE DAYS OF MAKEMTE. [A. D. 1707. 

" What the consequence of such practices, if persisted in, will 
prove to such a place where men and money are so wanting for 
the defence of New York, both by sea and land, which not many 
years since — by demands of men and money from the neighbor- 
ing colonies on the continent — was represented as their own bar- 
rier and frontier, I leave to thinking men and considering politi- 
cians to answer." 

Little Betty and Anne are again longing to see their 
father and talking of the bad men who are keeping him 
away. Amid the fragrance of the spring flowers along 
the marshes, they launch their little sloops of bark on 
the waters of Houlston's Creek and tell them to sail 
away and bring papa home. 

Says Matchacoopah : 

" Waaks (the fox) of the North would keep in his 
den aJi-zvJiap-pazvn-top (the eagle) of the Pocomoke." 

Meanwhile, the church at Snow Hill raises a sub- 
scription in tobacco and makes out a formal pastoral 
call to be presented to one of these prisoners at the 
approaching Presbytery. The spendthrift cousin of 
the queen cannot, with all his prisons, alienate the 
heart of the little village from Mr. Hampton. The 
Spences and the Fassitts and the Whites will be 
only the prouder of the young man who has proved 
himself worthy to stand by the side of the founder of 
these churches. 

In his Catechism, Mr. Makemie had taught that 
" people are to maintain their ministers." In his reply 
to George Keith he says : 

"What narrow and niggardly souls those people have who 
would allow no more to the ministry of the Gospel than common 
charity obliges them to give to the most common beggar that 
goes from door to door, even a necessary competency and ali- 
ment ; whereas ministers should have such a maintenance as 
may not be necessitated to entangle and incumber themselves 



A. D. 1707.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 45 1 

with secular affairs, and be diverted from their holy office and 
ministerial calling ; and further, they ought to have such an 
honorable allowance as they may not only live answerable to 
their station but be able to maintain duties to hospitality." 

The two years during which the London ministers 
agree to support " the itinerants " are nearly out, and 
Snow Hill church, as taught by her founder, is moving 
laudably to secure and support a settled pastor. 

While these important events have been occurring 
in our own country, the union between England and 
Scotland is finally consummated, and in the latter the 
rights of the Presbyterian Church have received a per- 
manent guarantee. The queen thus addresses the Gen- 
eral Assembly : 

"We take this opportunity of renewing to you our assurance 
that you shall have our protection in the free enjoyment of all 
the rights and privileges that by law you are possessed of," 

The Archbishop of Canterbury has declared that: 

"He believes the Church of Scotland to be as true a Protestant 
Church as that of England." * 

In comparison with this, how contemptible the spirit 
of Cornbury and of the rectors of Coventry and Stepney ! 
The danger to the Scotch Church is henceforth not so 
much from without as within, the mercenary Prelatists, 
who played the persecutor as long as they could, now 
conforming and subscribing to the Confession of Faith 
which they hate. 

Our Presbytery is to meet in Philadelphia on the 
22d of March — only two weeks after adjournment of 
court — and Mr. Makemie remains North, working for 
the Master. To reach home and return would occupy 

^Carstare's State Papers, p. 760; Hetherington, p. 320. 



452 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

almost the entire fortnight on the road. Cornbury's 
protracted hospitality has prevented the intended visit 
to Boston. However anxiously our pioneer desires to 
be with his family, he is ready to sacrifice his business 
and his pleasure for the sake of the Church. 

The establishment of the first American Presby- 
tery has been signalized by persecutions, but in the 
providence of God these persecutions of the modera- 
tor are helping his grand purpose forward, attracting 
the attention of the Presbyterians scattered through 
the Jerseys and on Long Island, enlisting their sym- 
pathies, reviving old memories, awakening their 
Church-attachments, and preparing for a general band- 
ing together in the years to come. Few in numbers, 
mingled with Independents, grown accustomed to the 
looser system of ecclesiastical government, it needs 
some such shock to arouse their dormant Presbyte- 
rian sentiment and cause them to move forw^ard to 
complete organization. 

How glad the brethren are to meet their acknowl- 
edged leader in Philadelphia ! At the opening of the 
Presbytery the ministers John Wilson, Jedediah An- 
drews, Nathaniel Taylor and George Macnish, and 
Elders Joseph Yard, William Smith, John Gardener 
and James Stoddard, are present. Mr. Wilson is 
elected moderator, and Mr. Macnish clerk. A letter 
is read from Mr. Samuel Davis excusing himself for 
not attending the former and the present meetings of 
Presbytery, but his reasons are not sustained. Those 
now present do not feel disposed to proceed with busi- 
ness until Mr. Makemie arrives from the North, and 
they adjourn over to Tuesday, the 25th, four o'clock p. M. 
At that time Mr. Makemie, Mr. Hampton and Mr. 



A. D. 1707.} THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 453 

Boyd appear, coming from the jurisdiction of Lord 
Cornbury, and our pastor and Mr. Wilson preach, 
according to appointment, on the first and second 
verses of the first chapter of Hebrews. These dis- 
courses are approved. 

Mr. Wilson is directed to write a letter to Mr. 
Davis requiring him to be present at the next meet- 
ing. The enactments of the youthful Presbytery are 
already not simply advisory, but authoritative. 

Letters from Snow Hill church are read to the 
Presbytery, and the following action is taken : 

" Whereas the aforesaid people do by their representatives 
and letters earnestly address the Presbytery for their joynt con- 
currence and assistance in prosecuting their call to Mr. John 
Hampton, that he may undertake the work of the Ministry 
among them as their settled and proper Minister and Pastor ; 
Ordered by the Presbytery that the call be sent to Mr. Hampton 
by the foresaid people, and also the other paper containing their 
subscriptions for his encouragement to undertake the work of the 
Ministry among them, be given to Mr. Hampton to peruse and 
consider." 

The pastor-elect having considered the call and 
made certain statements to the Presbytery, action is 
taken as follows : 

"Whereas Mr, Hampton, after his receiving the call to him 
from the people at Snow Hill, gave several satisfactory reasons 
why he could not at this time comply with it ; The said Mr. 
Hampton may have the call and the paper of subscription con- 
tinued in his hands for his further perusal till the next Presbytery. 
Ordered further, in this affair, that a letter be sent in the name 
of the Presbytery to the people of Snow Hill, to encourage their 
endeavors for a settled Minister among them, and that Mr. Na- 
thaniel Taylor write the letter expressing the mind of the Pres- 
bytery." 

Their elder, Mr. William Smith, will bring this let- 
ter back to the little church to cheer them in their 



454 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. -[A. D. 1707. 

laudable efforts to put their church-relations upon a 
sound Presbyterian footing. From the brave village 
up the Pocomoke comes the first formal pastoral call 
known upon the American records.* 

Our peninsular churches still look to the land of 
staunch Presbyterianism for ministers. On Wednes- 
day, Mr. Makemie is directed to write to Mr. Alexan- 
der Coldin of Oxam, Scotland, to urge him to accept 
an invitation from our people about Lewes, and Mr. 
Wilson is appointed to write to Mr. Coldin's Presby- 
tery. Mr. Andrews and Mr. Boyd, having been made 
a committee on the day before to prepare overtures 
bearing upon the interests of religion in the various 
congregations, proposed the following, which were 
considered and adopted : 

"I. That every minister, in the respective congregations, read 
and comment upon a chapter of the Bible every Lord's day, as 
discretion and circumstances of time, place &c., will admit. 2. 
That it be recommended to every minister of the Presbytery to set 
on foot and encourage private Christian societies. 3. That every 
minister of the Presbytery supply neighboring desolate places 
where a minister is wanting and opportunity of doing good 
offers." 

Two things here are worthy of notice. The first 
overture proves that Independency is to have little in- 
fluence in moulding our Presbyterian usages. Presby- 
terianism is determined to honor the Bible with a 
prominent place in the public services of the sanctu- 
ary. Our Scotch and Scotch-Irish ministry excel in 
expounding the word of God, and they call those who 
oppose it " dumb readers." The second point worthy 
to be remembered is the marked evangelistic spirit, as 
proved in the third overture. God's workmen are to 

* See records. Published l)y the Presl^yterian Board of Publication. 



A. D. 1707.1 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 455 

go out from the present centres and carry the gos- 
pel to destitute regions. However weak and feeble 
our churches, they must share the bread of life with 
starving souls around them. The mother-Presbytery 
is a missionary Presbytery. 

After appointing Mr. Andrews to preach at the next 
meeting on the first clause of the third verse of the 
first chapter of Hebrews, and Mr. Taylor on the sec- 
ond clause, the Presbytery adjourns to convene in 
Philadelphia on the first Tuesday of April, 1708. 
Thus in that stronghold of Quakerism, which has 
sent its propagandists to convert the Eastern Shore to 
their mystic faith, our vigorous Presbytery sits down 
as in a permanent place of assembling. The transac- 
tion of business at these meetings moves on as 
smoothly as at St. Johnstown or in Edinburgh. 

Everything from Mr. Makemie's lips or pen is grow- 
ing more precious daily, and I want to preserve a letter 
written by his hand from the midst of these historic 
scenes. Two days after Presbytery adjourns, while 
awaiting conveyance southward, the friendly missive 
is addressed on the 28th to the Rev. Benjamin Colman, 
pastor of the Brattle Street church, Boston : 

" R'd Brother ; Since our imprisonment, we have com- 
menced a correspondence with our r'd brethren of the ministry 
at Boston, which we hope, according to our intention, has been 
communicated to you all, whose sympathizing concurrence I can- 
not doubt in our expensive struggle for asserting our liberty 
against the powerful invasion of L'd Cornbury, which is not 
yet over. I need not tell you of a pick'd jury ; and the penal 
laws are invading our American sanctuary without the least 
regard to toleration ; which should justly alarm us all. 

" I hope Mr. Campbell, to whom I direct this for the more safe 
conveyance, has shown or informed you what I wrote last. We 
are so far upon our return home ; tho' I must return for a final 



456 THE DAYS OF MA REM IE. [A. D. 1707. 

trial, which will be very troublesome and expensive. And we 
only had liberty to attend a meeting of ministers we had for- 
merly appointed here, and were only seven in number at first but 
expect a growing number. 

"Our design is to meet yearly, and oftener if necessary, to con- 
sult the most proper measures for advancing religion and propa- 
gating Christianity in our various stations, and to maintain such 
a correspondence as may conduce to the improvement of our 
ministerial abilities, by prescribing texts to be preached on by 
two of our number at every meeting, which performance is sub- 
jected to the censure of our brethren. Our subject is Paul's 
Epistle to the Hebrews. I and another began and performed 
our parts on vs. i and 2. The 3rd is prescribed to Mr. Andrews 
and another. 

" If my friends write, direct to Mr. John Yard at Philadelphia, to 
be directed to me in Virginia. Pardon, sir, this diversion from — 
Your humble servn't, and brother in the Work of the Gospel — 

"Francis Makemie."* 

The travel homeward is tedious and wearisome — 
down to New Castle to Mr. Wilson's congregation, 
thence across the peninsula to the Chesapeake, there 
to await some chance sloop down the bay to the Pa- 
tuxent, and then another chance ketch over to the 
Eastern Shore. What joy it brings to all this country 
when at last we hear of his arrival on the Pocomoke 
and listen again to his eloquent words at Rehoboth ! 

During her husband's long absences in Europe and 
elsewhere, Naomi has grown accustomed to the man- 
agement of his large estate — the store at the planta- 
tion, the mill at Assawaman, the sloops, the extensive 
landed interests. The women of America learn to be 
strong in time of need. Weaklings do not make 
heroes of husbands and children. Now thirty-nine 
years of age, Naomi is a sensible business-woman 
equal to the many emergencies of colonial life. And 

* Neill's Terra Mariir, p. 195; Colman papers, Boston. 



A. D. 1707.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE, 457 

yet the wife and the little girls sorely miss the loved 
one while away, and no heart but theirs and his and 
the Saviour's can ever know all the sacrifice in these 
long separations. 

We feel prouder of this hero of Accomack, now that 
he has suffered bonds for the gospel's sake and means 
to return like Regulus into the hands of his enemies. 
A promise to preach no more in New York and the 
Jerseys will at any moment save him from the con- 
flict; but no! with him there is no compromise. It 
is gratifying to see the leading men of our county 
gathering about him and volunteering to sign to the 
authorities in New York the strongest testimonials to 
the purity of his character as a citizen and a man of 
God. These testimonials he will carry back with him, 
" signed by some of the best quality of the most con- 
tiguous county," he says, in order to rebut any attempt 
to impeach his integrity. 

I have been thinking of Mr. Makemie's own words 
in the sermon for which he suffers persecution : 

"To whom much is given, of them is much required; much 
knowledge calls for much obedience ; a strong faith, the more 
fruit; the higher our station or calling is, the more shining and 
exemplary should our lives be ; the more grace God bestows on 
us, the more obedience will he require at our hands. Therefore 
it is not sufficient that we do as much as others do, that we are 
as holy and righteous as our neighbors ; but is our walk and life 
suitable to the obligations we are under to God's gifts and graces 
bestowed on us, and answerable to the caUing and station we are 
placed in of God ?" 

The great Head of the Church had exalted this preach- 
er into a position of prominence before the whole land. 
How pleasant to know that his grand life and spotless 
reputation will stand the scrutiny of every eye ! 



458 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707, 

The conduct of his persecutors has been even more 
despicable than we had supposed. Our pastor says : 

" I cannot omit a true and strange story I lately heard of; That, 
during the imprisonment, either to find out a crime, none being 
specified in the mittimus, or to aggravate our imaginary faults, 
an order was given to Major Sandford of East Jersey to put 
sundry persons upon examination and their oaths, to discover 
what discourse we had with sundry of our friends at the house 
of Mr. Jasper Crane in Newarktown in East Jersey where Mr. 
Samuel Melyen, Mr. Crane, and another, gave their deposidons 
before Major Sandford ; but they found nothing to their purpose. 
The practice is not to be outdone, yea, scarcely paralleled by the 
Spanish Inquisition; for no men are safe in their most private 
conversations if most intimate friends can be compelled upon oath 
to betray one another's secrets. If this is agreeable to the Eng- 
hsh Constitution and privileges, I confess we have been hitherto 
in the dark." 

June is approaching, and into the power of such 
enemies our minister is firmly resolved to return. 
We see again the wisdom of God in putting means 
into the hands of this good man. Were he poor, it 
would be impossible for him to fight the heavy con- 
flict through. Nothing compels his going. Corn- 
bury is very willing for the matter to rest where it is 
— the champion of Presbyterianism worried out of his 
government and the policy of suppression triumphant. 
When the Southern preacher boldly reappears to 
contest usurped authority, the governor and his min- 
ions will be only the more embittered. As Mr. Ma- 
kemie bids his friends farewell and turns northward, 
we think of Paul's journey from Miletus to Jerusalem, 
Luther's departure for the Diet at Worms, and the 
fearless defiance of tyranny when John Knox enters 
council-chamber and palace nor fears the face of man. 

Our pioneer is not looking very well. He takes one 



A. D. 1707.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 45^ 

of his servants with him, to be a help on the journey. 
The soft Maryland May is verging on toward the sum- 
mer hours. Matchacoopah's aJi-sceqiie (the crane) 
stands in the marshes watching for the little kosJi-kik- 
ene-suk (the perch), tick-quack (the raven) croaks in 
the pines, and aJi-zvliap-pazvn-top (the eagle) leaves 
his nest and flies steadily up the coast. AJi-skoke and 
oh-kmisJi-kip (the snake and the lizard) sun themselves 
in painp-tuck-koik (the woods). The eagle soars in 
his flight. 

On Tuesday, June 3, the court sits in New York, 
and the defendant is promptly present, to the disap- 
pointment, unquestionably, of the authorities. He is 
ordered to plead to-morrow. On Wednesday he for- 
mally enters the plea of *' Not guilty." Now follows 
some skirmishing with the prosecuting attorney, who 
proposes to introduce a copy of the queen's instruc- 
tions in place of the original document. The govern- 
or is out of the city, and has left this paper certified 
under his signature. Mr. Makemie at first objects, but 
he sees that the attorney is likely to use this as a pre- 
text to postpone the case until the next term. Our 
minister then moves that he also may have a copy, and 
declares he 

" cannot but wonder of what service these Instructions, which 
are no law, can do Mr. Attorney, seeing the Presentment runs 
upon Statutes and Act of Parhament. He expects to have a 
trial before a Court who are judges of law and not of private 
instructions." 

On Friday, the 6th, the petit jury is called and 
sworn. Mr. Makemie proves by Mr. Young that one 
of them has prejudged the case. This Huguenot is 
set aside, Mr. Makemie sharply remarking : 



460 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

" I am amazed to find one who was so lately dragooned out of 
France for his religion and delivered out of the galley, so soon 
prove a persecutor of the same religion for preaching a sermon 
in this city." 

The doctrine of religious toleration is poorly under- 
stood. It is a sad fact that many who have suffered 
severely and have fled from great wrongs in Europe 
have become no less uncharitable and cruel to others 
as soon as the opportunity of power is given them. 
This must always be the result of the claim of the 
civil government to punish heresy. 

There are several other French Protestants on the 
jury. I will record the whole panel, as a roll of hon- 
or: John Shepherd, Thomas Ives, Joseph Wright, 
Thomas Wooden, Joseph Robinson, Bartholomew 
Laronex, Andrew Lauron, Humphrey Perkins, Wil- 
liam Horswell, Thomas Carrell, Thomas Baynex and 
Charles Cromline. 

The queen's instructions — so often denied to the 
defendant, but admitted in evidence and found to be 
in precisely the words given by King William to a 
former governor — were as follows : 

"And you are to permit a Liberty of Conscience to all Persons 
(except Papists) so they be contented with a quiet and peaceable 
enjoyment of it, not giving offence or scandal to the Government. 

"You are not to permit any Minister coming from England to 
Preach in your Government without a Certificate from the Right 
Reverend, the Bishop of London ; Nor any other Minister, com- 
ing from any other part or place, without first obtaining leave 
from you, our Governor." 

The attorney being about to have four of Mr. Make- 
mie's hearers sworn to prove the fact of the preaching, 
the defendant frankly said : 

" The swearing of these four gentlemen as evidences will but 



A. D. 1707.] THE DAYS OF MAKE MI E. 46 1 

give a needless trouble and take up the time of the Court. I 
will own to the matter of fact as to my preaching, and more than 
these gentlemen can declare upon oath ; for I have done nothing 
therein that I am ashamed or afraid of, but I will answer and 
own it, not only before this bar, but before the tribunal of God's 
final Judgment." 

Attorney. " You own that you preached a sermon and baptized 
a child at Mr. William Jackson's ?" 

Mr. M. "I did." 

Att. " How many hearers had you ?" 

Mr. M. " I have other work to do, Mr. Attorney, than number 
my auditory when I am about to preach to them." 

Att. " Were there more than five hearing you ?" 

Mr. M. " Yes, and five to that." 

Att. " Did you use the rites and ceremonies enjoined by and 
prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer by the Church of 
England?" 

Mr. M. "No, I never did, nor ever will, till I am better satis- 
fied in my conscience!" 

The answer was bold and ringing, spoken with all 
the brave dignity of Presbyterian dissent. 

Att. "Did you ask leave, or acquaint My Lord Cornbury with 
your preaching at York, when you dined with him ?" 

Mr. M. " I did not know of my preaching at York when I 
dined with His Excellency ; no, not for some days after. When 
we came to York, we had not the least intention or design of 
preaching here but stopped at York purely to pay our respects to 
the Governor, which we did ; but being afterward called and in- 
vited to preach, as I was a minister of the Gospel I durst not 
deny preaching ; and I hope I never shall, when it is wanting 
and desired." 

Att. " Did you acquaint My Lord Cornbury with the place of 
your preaching?" 

Afr. M. " As soon as I determined to preach, leave was asked 
though not by me ; for it was the people's business, and not mine, 
to provide a place for me to preach in. I would have been ad- 
mitted to preach in the Dutch Church, but they were afraid of 
offending Lord Cornbury. Anthony Young went to the Governor 
to have his leave or permission for my preaching in the Dutch 
Church, though all this was done without so much as my knowl- 
edge. But My Lord opposing and denying it, I was under the 



462 THE DA YS OF MAKE M IE. [A. D. 1707. 

necessity of preaching where I did, in a private house, though in 
a pubhc manner and with open doors." 

It already begins to be manifest that the attorney is 
meeting no weakhng in this defendant. But he pro- 
ceeds to contend for the several parts of the indict- 
ment, arguing the supremacy of the queen in ecclesi- 
astical affairs from old statutes of the reign of Henry 
VIIL, and claiming that this same supremacy lodges 
by delegation in the governor. Then he pleads the 
statutes of Elizabeth and Charles for uniformity, and 
parades the penal laws against conventicles. After 
discussing these at some length and making a great 
deal of the queen's instructions, he says : 

" Gentlemen of the Jury, the matter of fact is plainly confessed 
by the defendant, and I have proved it to be repugnant to the 
Queen's Instructions and sundry acts of Parliament ; therefore I 
do not doubt but you will find for the Queen." 

Mr. James Regniere and Mr. William NicoU follow- 
in defence, analyzing the indictment and showing that 
there has been no violation of law. These retained 
lawyers are supported in a strong speech by Mr. 
David Jamison, a Presbyterian and one of the ablest 
men in the province, a volunteer counsel for Mr. 
Makemie. He said : 

"We do not come here to oppose or call in question the 
Queen's supremacy and Prerogative, but are willing to pay all 
due respect and deference thereunto. We cannot see that her 
instructions to Lord Cornbury are a law to anybody else but to 
His Lordship. In New York we have no established religion. 
On the East-end of Nassau or Long Island are, and always have 
been, Independent Ministers ; * the French have their own way 

* Jamison knew the difference between Piesbyterianism and In- 
dependency, and the distinction is here made in the presence of the 
founder of American Presbyterianism. This is conclusive as to the 



A. D. 1707.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 463 

and Ministers, and the Dutch in hke manner. The very Jews 
and Quakers have the free exercise of their rehgion. When we 
did set about erecting a Church of England congregation in this 
town and obtained a charter for the same of Governor Fletcher, 
although we were desirous to have the National Worship amongst 
us, yet was it the care of these members who promoted it, to get 
such clauses inserted in it as should secure the liberty of the 
Dutch and French congregations from our successors. And in 
an Act of Assembly made for its encouragement, the like care 
and precaution was had. This province has not been much more 
than forty years in the possession of the Crown of England, and 
is made up chiefly of foreigners and Dissenters ; and persecution 
would not only tend to disuniting us all in interest and affection, 
but depopulate and weaken our strength and discourage all such 
adventurers for the future. Therefore as this prosecution is the 
first of this nature or sort ever in this province, so I hope it will 
be the last." 1 

This was the man who had helped to secure the 
planting of the Episcopal Church in New York. 
How different the spirit of those who would now 
gladly drive everything else out of the province ! 

Another champion of liberty takes the floor, Mr. 
Makemie himself asking and obtaining permission to 
speak. I give his own words : 

" I am amazed to find Mr. Attorney so much changed in his 
opinion ; for when I was before My Lord Cornbury, who told us 
the Act of Toleration was limited and local and extended not to 
the Plantations, Mr. Attorney was pleased to confirm it by assert- 
ing the same thing, and went a little further by producing an 
argument to strengthen his opinion, That the Penal Laws of 
England did not extend to the Plantations, and the Act of Tol- 
eration was made to take off the edge of the Penal Laws ; there- 
fore the Toleration does not extend hither. But we find soon 
after, by an Indictment, both the Penal Laws and Toleration 
reach hither — and all their penalties too!" 

Chief -Justice. "Gentlemen, do not trouble the Court with 
what discourse passed between you before My Lord or at any 
other time; but speak to the point." 

claims of Hempstead, Jamaica, etc., to be the birthplace of the Amer- 
ican Presbyterian Church. 



464 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

Mr. Makemie's opening had been very adroit, show- 
ing that the prosecution has changed front since the 
arrest, and letting the jury know that the governor 
himself has testified to the righteousness of the theory 
of the defence. Our minister is not to be cheated out 
of his advantage by the interruption of the court : 

" May it please Your Honor, I hope to make it appear that it 
is to the point, and what was Mr. Attorney's argument then, is 
now mine. For whatever opinion I was of, while an absolute 
stranger to New York and its Constitution, yet since I have in- 
formed myself thoroughly with the Constitution of this place, I 
am entirely of Mr. Attorney's opinion, and hope he will be of the 
same still. 

"As to the Indictment, to return to the particulars thereof, first 
I am charged with contemning and endeavoring to subvert the 
supremacy of the Queen in Ecclesiastical affairs. As to the 
Queen's supremacy about Ecclesiastical persons and things, we 
allow and believe that she has as large a supremacy as in the 
Word of God is allowed to any Christian kings and princes. Our 
Confession of Faith which will compare with any in the world, 
and is universally known to the Christian world, is very full in 
that matter:" 

The standards of his Church in hand, he stands and 
reads : 

"God, the Supreme Lord and King of all the world, hath or- 
dained Civil Magistrates to be, under him, over the people, for 
his own glory and the public good. It is the duty of people to 
pray for Magistrates, to honor their persons, to obey their lawful 
commands, and to be subject to their authority for conscience, 
sake." 

Thus the Confession of Faith, proudly quoted and 
its worth boldly asserted before the courts of New 
York, is shown to be not such a dangerous or trea- 
sonable book, after all. He proceeds : 

" I cannot learn one argument or one word from all the quoted 
Statutes that preaching a sermon is the least contempt or over- 



A. D. 1707.] THE DAYS OF MAKE MI E. 465 

throw of the supremacy. And I hope it is not unknown to any 
that the oath of supremacy has been aboHshed by law ever since 
the Revolution, and consequently the subjects of the government 
must be delivered from some obligation thereby. How far this 
will be considered to extend, I leave to the Judges to determine. 

"As to my preaching without license first obtained from Lord 
Cornbury, which is asserted to be against law, I cannot hear from 
any law yet produced that Lord Cornbury has any power or di- 
rections to grant license to any Dissenters, or that any of them 
are under obligations to take license from His Lordship, before 
they preach or after. Mr. Attorney pretends no law, unless he 
concludes the Queen's Instructions to be a law or to have the 
force of law. That they have no force of law, has been abun- 
dantly proved. Neither am I any way culpable even from the 
Queen's Instructions which are produced in Court ; for they con- 
sist of two parts, or rather two distinct Instructions, not relating 
at all to the same persons, 

" In the first. His Excellency is required to permit liberty of 
conscience to all persons except Papists. This liberty is allowed 
to Dissenters, which we claim by virtue of this Instruction. Here 
is no license mentioned or required. Permission is a negative 
act, and implies no more than this — You shall so allow it, as not 
to hinder, molest or disquiet them, but rather protect them in it. 
Papists being particularly expressed, it cannot be applied to the 
Church of England. Therefore, Dissenters are intended by this 
Instruction, and no other. If this permission is granted us, ac- 
cording to the express words thereof, we desire no more. It can- 
not be esteemed by any that imprisoning and punishing us at 
such a rate for preaching one sermon is permitting us hberty of 
conscience. 

" The two paragraphs, though joined together in this copy, are 
at a considerable distance from one another in the original — as 
we really found it so in a copy of instructions to a former Gov- 
ernor. As the former concerns Dissenters, so this is intended 
for the clergy of the Church of England ; who by their Constitu- 
tion are under strict obligations to take hcense or cerdficate from 
their Ordinary ; and such as come to the Plantations acknowledge 
the Bishop of London as such. No Dissenter, either in England 
or anywhere else in the Queen's dominion, ever took or was ever 
under any obligation to take any license from the Queens or 
Kings of England, or any other person or persons whatsoever — 
until a method has of late been erected and forced into practice in 
New York. If our liberty either depended on a license from the 
30 



466 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

Bishops of England or the Governors of America, we should 
soon be deprived of our liberty of conscience secured to us by- 
law and by repeated resolutions of our present sovereign and 
gracious Queen inviolably to maintain the Toleration ; which 
she is pleased to signify in her royal Instructions to all her Gov- 
ernors abroad, and which we are the more assured of from the 
Instructions produced in this Court. As the first clause of this 
second instruction cannot be apphed to any other Ministers but 
of the Church of England, so the latter clause can be under- 
stood of no other but the same sort. Mr. Sharp, now Chaplain 
at Fort Anne, came from Maryland. He being a Minister of the 
Church of England and enjoying a considerable benefice there- 
by, was obliged to comply with the Constitution of his own 
Church and take a license from Lord Cornbury if none could 
be produced from the Bishop of London. All this is foreign to 
us, and not at all required of any Dissenter in Europe or 
America. 

" But it has already been made appear that these Instructions 
cannot have the force of law to bind the subject to obedience, 
seeing that Promulgation, which is the hfe of the law, has never 
yet accompanied these Instructions. So if this be Mr. Attorney's 
law we have broke, I hope you. Gentlemen of the Jury, cannot 
but find that we are no way culpable thereby. 

"As to the last part of the Indictment concerning the Penal 
Laws or the Sundry Statutes against Conventicles, they never 
were designed nor intended by our English Legislators for 
America or any of the Plantations thereof. They are limited 
and local Acts, all of them restricted to England, Wales and 
Berwick upon Tweed, as is manifest from the express words. 
Neither have they ever been put in execution in any of the Plan- 
tations until now. Yea, in England, Wales and Berwick upon 
Tweed, for which they were calculated and made, they have not 
been executed these twenty years past. When they were put in 
the most strict and rigorous execution in England, which was 
about the last of the reign of King Charles II., the Dissenters 
of America lived very quiet, even in such Plantations where the 
Church of England has a full and formal Establishment. What 
is more, the Roman Catholics, who are excluded from all bene- 
fit of the Act of Toleration, cannot be touched in America by 
these Penal Laws. 

" If the Penal Laws of England do not extend to those Planta- 
tions where the Church of England has a legal Establishment, it 
cannot be imagined that they can take place where there is no 



A. D, 1707.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 467 

particular persuasion established by law and where consequently 
all persuasions are upon an equal bottom of liberty. This I find 
to be the case with New York, where there is not one Act of As- 
sembly wherein the name or manner of worship of the Church 
of England is so much as expressed. Where there is no legal 
Establishment or any penalties or restrictions on the liberty of 
any Dissenters, there is no room for any Toleration. In New 
York government all persuasions are upon an equal level of 
liberty. This is confirmed to all Dissenters, except Papists, and 
allowed by an Act of Assembly already read in open Court. And 
if Jews who openly blaspheme the Lord Jesus, Quakers and 
Lutherans and all other persuasions are allowed in this govern- 
ment, it is matter of wonder and I can know no reason why we 
only should be put to molestation as we are by my present pros- 
ecution. Is it because we are Protestants ? Is it because we are 
likest the Established Church of England of any Dissenters ? Is 
it because we are the most considerable body of Protestants in 
the Queen's dominions ? Is it because we have now, since the 
Union, a National Establishment in Great Britain as nighly re- 
lated and annexed unto the Crown as the Church of England it- 
self? Sure such proceedings, when known, will and must be a 
prodigy in England !" 

In taking the floor again, the attorney began by 



"There has been so much delivered and by so many, it is im- 
possible for any man to answer all that has been offered." 

Mr. M. "I verily beheve it z's impossible for Mr. Attorney to 
answer what has been said. It is a great truth which Mr. Attor- 
ney asserts !" 

Our minister's readiness in debate may be seen in 
his prompt answer to the attorney's triumphant boast 
that he can produce one statute not local or limited, 
but reaching to all the royal dominions. He quotes 
from the Act of Uniformity made in the first year of 
Elizabeth and containing the words : 

" Or other place within this realm of England, Wales and the 
Marches of the same, and other the Queen's dominions." 

Mr. M. "1 hope to make it appear that this Act does no way 



468 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

affect the Plantations and far less affect Dissenters ; therefore is 
altogether foreign to our present purpose. For, First, That Act 
of Parliament was made in the first year of the reign of Eliza- 
beth and consequently before any Plantation had a being or was 
thought of, and so could have no relation to them at all. Secofid, 
All over the Act, and in sundry places thereof, it is directed to 
Ministers and Parsons or Vicars in Cathedrals, Parish-Churches, 
Private Chapels, or Oratorios ; and not a word, in the whole Act, 
of Dissenters or Conventicles. For, Third, At that time, when 
this Act was made, there were not, strictly and properly speak- 
ing, any number of Dissenters in England who held separate 
meetings from the public and established worship. There were 
those however in the Church of England who always, from the 
beginning of the Reformation, scrupled the use of all the Com- 
mon Prayer and omitted some ceremonies, which was and is to- 
day the grounds of the separation ; and it was to oblige such to 
a uniformity in public worship. As soon as the Act was made 
and put in execution, with all its penalties, many were discour- 
aged and others cast out of the Church for nonconformity. This 
really made the separation, and all the mischiefs of the separation 
are originally owing to this Act. As soon as the separation was 
made, they could not touch Dissenters by the penalties of this 
Act and therefore were under the necessity of making new Acts 
of Parliament in the following reigns for punishing separated 
Dissenters ; all which were limited and local in express words, 
and never designed to pursue persecuted persons to an American 
wilderness. Fourth, I am able to make it appear that, if this Act 
of Uniformity were strictly put in execution, the most of the 
clergy of the Church of England would fall under its lashes and 
penalties ; for none of them are to use any other Rite, Ceremony 
or open Prayer but what is mentioned and set forth in the said 
Book of Common Prayer. But it is well known that the most 
valuable men in that Church use another public prayer than 
is in that book ; and all such persons, being in communion with 
the Church of England, are alone liable to be prosecuted upon 
this Statute. 

" Mr. Attorney affirms that giving and taking license is very 
common and universal. I am well assured that there never was, 
neither is to this day, any such practice in any Plantation in 
America. There are but few persons as yet in York Government 
that have licenses. Besides the two Dutch Ministers who differ 
upon Long Island, and it is said that licenses are the cause of 
their difference, there is but one English Nonconformist Minister 



A. D. 1707.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 469 

in all the government who has taken license. It is certain that 
Mr. Dubois and sundry others of the Dutch Churches have no 
license, neither will submit to any such as are granted." 

Mr. Makemie's stock of historical and general in- 
formation is too great for the attorney. The latter, 
seeing that the jury are impressed, now claims that 
they shall bring in a special verdict as to the simple 
fact of preaching, already admitted by the defendant, 
and leave the question of crime wholly to the judges. 
Mr. Makemie promptly objects : 

" May it please Your Honors ; I am a stranger who live four 
hundred miles from this place ; and it is known to the whole coun- 
try what intolerable trouble I have been put to already, and we 
cannot consent to a special verdict, for that is only to increase 
my trouble, multiply my charge, and give me further delay. It 
is a known truth in law that strangers are to be favored always 
with expedition in justice and it does no way approve of delays. 
If this should be allowed, no man's innocence is able to protect 
him. If I am cleared, I should suffer more in charges at last 
than if I were really guilty of many Penal Laws of England. 

"As to the Jury's judging of law, and my confessing the fact, I 
cannot see one point of the law to be judged. For that the Penal 
Laws are local and limited is owned on all sides ; and Penal Laws 
are strictly to be taken and interpreted, and not allowed to the 
ruin of the subject to extend or be interpreted beyond the plain 
and strict sense of the words. It is also true that we have con- 
fessed preaching a sermon at the house of Mr. William Jackson 
with all the true circumstances ; but we have not owned this to 
be a crime or repugnant to any law or inconsistent with any of 
the Queen's Instructions yet produced. Neither has Mr. Attorney 
made anything of this yet to appear." 

Att. " These gentlemen acknowledge and say that the Min- 
isters of the Church of England are to take Hcenses and are 
obliged so to do. If so, the Dissenters should also ; otherwise 
they must expect more favor and liberty than the Ministers of 
the Church of England." 

Mr. M. "The case is very different; for it is the opinion and 
constitution of the Church of England that, notwithstanding 
their ordination, they are not to preach or officiate as Ministers 



470 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

until they procure or have a hcense from their Bishop or Ordi- 
nary, which no Dissenting Minister is concerned with ; and their 
clergy voluntarily and freely bring themselves under an oath of 
Canonical obedience to their Ordinary. If he require them to 
take licenses or anything else, they are sworn to submit there- 
unto. Finally, there is a great reason why Ministers of the 
Church of England should submit to license but we should not ; 
because it is only bare liberty which Dissenters have, but they 
have not only liberty but a considerable maintenance a/so, with- 
out which I never knew any of them value liberty only. Dis- 
senters ha\ing liberty only without any maintenance from the 
government, are not under any obligations, nor is it required of 
them, to take license of any." 

The chief-justice, not being clear in his mind how 
far unpublished instructions may go in having the 
force of law, and also as to the point raised by Mr. 
IVIakemie that the oath of supremacy is abolished in 
England, tells the jury that he prefers a special verdict, 
but that they may do as they please about it. 

The Presbyterian parson has puzzled the New York 
attorney and the New York Bench. They are not left 
long in suspense. The jury soon returns, and finds 
the defendant " Not guilty " ! 

Lord Cornbur}^'s judges are dissatisfied, and begin to 
demand reasons for the verdict. The chief-justice in- 
structs them that they may choose whether they will 
or will not give their reasons. The foreman answers 
that the defendant has tra?isgrcsscd no laiv. On the 
next day, Saturday, June 7, Mr. Makemie is dis- 
charged, but ordered to pay all the costs. To this 
he righteously objects : 

"It is an hard case that an innocent person, and one found so 
upon trial and by law, and suffering so much already, and not 
only innocently but for doing good, should pay so severe fees at 
last." 



A. D. 1707.] THE DAYS OF MAKKMIR. 471 

Finally, he signifies his willingness to pay all legal 
fees to the court and other officers who have not been 
endeavoring to secure his conviction, but he protests 
against rewarding his prosecutors for their zeal against 
him : 



"This will be nothing else than hiring our enemies to ruin 



us. 



No argument is permitted, and there is no appeal. 
Then Mr. Makemie asks that, as a stranger, he may 
not be left to the arbitrary demands of officers, but 
that the bill may be examined in open court. The 
chief-justice declines to have anything to do with it, 
and refers it to Justice Milward, one of his assistants, 
who is to tax the bill after due notice of time and 
place given to defendant or his attorney. This notice 
was not given, and, instead of abating anything from 
the heavy charges, others are added. The exorbitant 
bill is paid to the last farthing, and then a receipt for 
the money is refused ! 

I give the items of cost, as preserved by Mr. 
Makemie : 

" To Thomas Cardale, Sheriff of Queen's County, for ap;re- 
hending and bringing us before Lord Cornbury at Fort Anne — 
four pounds, one shilling. To charges at Jamaica, whither we 
were carried out of our way — twelve shillings. To expenses at 
White Hall Tavern, while attending Lord Cornbury's leisure, be- 
sides what sundry friends spent — two shillings, three pence. To 
Ebenezer Wilson, High Sheriff, for commitment to his house — 
four pounds, one shilling. To the same for accommodation 
(board &c. at his house during imprisonment; — thirteen pounds, 
five shillings, six pence. To the same for extraordinary expenses 
during the time of our imprisonment — six pounds. To the same 
for a copy of the Panel — five shillings, six pence. To the same 
for Return and Habeas Corpus — four pounds, one shilling. To 
the same for fees after trial — one pound, ten shillings." 



472 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

Thus the fees of the two sheriffs amounted to thirty- 
three pounds, sixteen shillings ! 

Other officers of the court he paid as follows : 

" To the Chief Justice when we gave recognizance — one pound, 
sixteen shiUings. To the same, after the first term — eighteen 
shillings. To the Judge — one pound. To Judge Milward, for 
taxing the bill of cost I think — twelve shillings. To Mr. Secre- 
tary for fees — five pounds, twelve shillings, six pence. To the 
Crier and Under Sheriff — ten shillings. To Mr. Attorney for 
the Queen, though cleared — twelve pounds, twelve shillings, 
six pence !" 

This last is the greatest outrage of all, compelling a 
man pronounced innocent to pay the lawyer who strove 
to convict him and failed ! In addition to all this must 
be added the expenses incurred by himself: 

" To my charges in returning with my man from Virginia, both 
by land and water, to attend trial at New York — twelve pounds, 
six shillings, six pence. To Mr. Regniere — nine pounds, nine- 
teen shiUings, nine pence. To Mr. Nichol — four pounds, two 
shillings." 

Here is a sum-total of eighty-one pounds, four shil- 
lings, nine pence, wrested from a person, says Mr. Ma- 
kemie, 

"who is not only innocent, but for doing good, as was determined 
by the trial ; and for complying with the most solemn obligations 
of duty both to God and the souls of men. In addition to which, 
besides loss of time and absence from my family and concerns, 
I might have justly charged twelve pounds more money, by being 
necessitated to make my escape, both by land and water, to New 
England, from Officers with new Precepts ; whereby a whole 
Sabbath was profaned in seeking to apprehend me." 

Thereby hangs another story. Of course, among 
the better class of people in New York and the 
country adjoining, there was great rejoicing over 
Mr. Makemie's triumphant vindication ; but while he 



A. D. 1707.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMFE. 473 

walked under the shadow of Fort Anne as the suc- 
cessful champion of the rights of conscience against 
the will of a tyrant, there were those who hated and 
watched him. 

While the suit was pending, the sermon which was 
Cornbury's pretext for the great wrong had been pub- 
lished in Boston, its dedication to those who had heard 
it being dated March 3, five days before the writ of 
habeas corpus was obtained. In the sheriff's own 
house, during imprisonment, the weary days had been 
occupied in writing it out for publication, and thence 
it passed to the printers (74). 

This sermon was now in circulation and inflaming; 
his enemies only the more. They feel its publication 
to be a challenge and defiance, and sinners are cer- 
tainly aroused, though probably not in the way con- 
templated by Mr. Makemie when he said : 

"That this Discourse may be blessed of God to awaken sin- 
ners to reflect on and detect the irregularities of their past lives 
and furnish any with prevailing considerations to a more uni- 
versal conformity to the rules of the Gospel, is and shall be the 
desire of him who is a well-wisher to immortal souls." 

On Sabbath our minister preached in the Huguenot 
church, the late trial attracting no little attention to the 
preacher. The governor and his sycophantic Church- 
men feel their defeat, and something must be done. 
The pretended Establishment is threatened ! An up- 
roar like that of which the counsel Nichol spoke as 
prevailing at Ephesus because of a dreaded loss of 
gain, rages around Fort Anne. Says Mr. Makemie : 

" Preaching in a private house was a crime ; and preaching 
since, after being declared not guilty in a legal trial, in a public 
Church allowed by law to the French, is since resented as a 



474 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

greater crime by some high-flown sparks, pretended sons of the 
Church, who with a great deal of unbounded fury declared that 
if such things were allowed, their Church was ruined ! Which is 
language of the same nature of those high-fliers in England who 
were declared by a vote of the House of Lords enemies to the 
Queen and Government for suggesting that the Church was in 
danger from the liberty or Toleration of Dissenters." * 

Lord Cornbury's venom rankles against the man 
who is checking his arbitrary will. Another pretext 
for persecution must be found. The governor's life, 
private and official, supplies a tempting target to 
satire, and early in the year there appeared in print a 
severe excoriation under the title of Forget and For- 
give. This philippic was never read or seen by Mr. 
Makemie until he was in prison, but it now serves the 
purpose of Cornbury and his party to charge the au- 
thorship of the pamphlet upon the minister. Another 
prosecution is ordered ; the officers are commanded 
to make the arrest; search is made everywhere; but 
the intended victim has friends, information is given, 
and he is safely on his way to New England. Soon 
he reaches Boston, whither he started six months 
ago. 

Mr. Makemie is now among friends. By the slow 
exchanges of the day, occasional communications from 
his hand have come hither in reference to the great in- 
terests of Christ's kingdom. In his former loneliness 
in the American desert he had sought fellowship of 
thought and counsel with the strong men in these 
regions, doctrinally the same, differing only in views 
of church government. Twenty-three years ago letters 

* Knight, V. 170. The term " highfliers " is this year used by the 
secretary for Ireland, himself a Churchman, and applied to High- 
Church Tories (Reid, ii. 527). 



A. D. 1707.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 47$ 

and other courtesies had begun to pass between him and 
Increase Mather, the ablest man then on the American 
continent. In the old Puritan way, the name "In- 
crease " had been given because of " the increase of 
every sort wherewith God favored the country about 
the time of his nativity." Born on American soil, he 
has also breathed the air of Mr. Makemie's own native 
isle, having taken his Master's degree at Trinity Col- 
lege, Dublin, in 1658. President of Harvard College 
seventeen years, now sixty-eight of age, he is found by 
our minister still adding to his stores of learning by 
sixteen hours of daily study. He may sit by the old 
man and read his book of ILhisUious Providences, pub- 
lished the year after our pioneer's arrival on the Poco- 
moke and while he was writing the letters from Eliza- 
beth River. The advocate of liberty against Lord 
Cornbury will find a warm sympathizer in him who 
stood foremost in Massachusetts against the tyranny 
of Sir Edmund Andros, and who said of oppressions 
not dissimilar : 

"The Foxes were now made the administrators of justice to 
the Poultry." 

Mr. Makemie will also visit the great Mather's 
greater son, his copastor in the North church, now 
already famous at forty years of age. Cotton Mather 
will entertain him with his wonderful readiness of wit 
and unexampled erudition, and may possibly admit to 
him, as he has admitted to others, that in the late 
witchcraft frenzy he "went too far." The scholarly 
host will not be averse to any compliment he may see 
fit to bestow upon that ponderous book The Magnalia, 
issued five years ago and over the publication of which 



4/6 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

he had passed through " so many prayers and cares 
and tears and resignations." The visits must not be 
too extended, for over the study-door are the suggest- 
ive words *' Be Short." The New England poet Ben- 
jamin Thomson well says of him, '* Play is his toil 
and work his recreation." 

Our pastor will probably meet the preacher-poet 
Nicholas Noyes of Salem, who was likewise carried 
away with the terrible delusion, but now humbly con- 
fesses the great wrong and goes about trying to make 
reparation for his course against the poor old witches. 

Of course, Mr. Makemie will talk face to face with 
his correspondent the eloquent Benjamin Colman, and 
will tell him further of the work of the gospel to the 
southward, and of the prospects of the infant Presby- 
tery, now composed of the sacred number of seven. 
Perhaps his friend will read to him his poem Elijah's 
Translation, published this year, or his gifted little 
daughter Jane may entertain him with some of her 
youthful rhymes and question him about his own 
little girls far away in the Virginia land. 

Perhaps, too, our minister will listen to some of the 
last of those wonderful theological lectures of Rev. 
Samuel Willard in the South church, or perhaps he 
will stand among the mourners at the funeral of this 
great man and hear his colleague pronounce him ** for 
so long a time the light, joy and glory of the place ;" 
for this year closes for ever his two hundred and fifty 
lectures on the Assembly's Catechism. It will be a 
delight to Mr. Makemie to find our doctrinal stan- 
dards so honored by the grander intellects of New 
England. 

So pass the weeks among these giants of Congrega- 



A. D. 1707.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 477 

tionalism. Here had been published the Ansiuer to 
Keith under the endorsement of Willard, the Mathers 
and others. Here, too, has been issued the New York 
sermon. Mr. Makemie appears among these men as 
one not unknown — the brave representative of the 
Scotch and Scotch-Irish Presbyterianism of the con- 
tinent. There he is, hundreds of miles from home, 
with New York between, bristling with warrants and 
false accusations. Mr. Makemie is not willing to re- 
linquish his plans for extending and compacting our 
ecclesiastical system northward from Philadelphia, but 
the policy of Lord Cornbury stands directly across 
his way. 

Another attempt is made to influence the governor 
by conciliatory means. Under date of July 28, Mr. 
Makemie thus addresses him from Boston : 

" May it please Your Lordship ; I must humbly beg leave to 
represent to Your Excellency my just astonishment at the infor- 
mation received from sundry hands since my arrival in these 
Colonies, and after so long and so expensive a confinement, so 
deliberate and fair a trial before Judges of Your Lordship's ap- 
pointment and by a jury chosen by your own Sheriff on purpose 
to try the matter. I have been legally cleared, and found guilty 
of no crime, for preaching a sermon at New York, though my 
innocence protected not from intolerable expense. 

" I am informed, may it please Your Excellency, there are 
orders and directions given to sundry officers in the Jerseys for 
apprehending me, and a design of giving me fresh trouble at 
New York. 

" If I were assured of the true cause of Your Lordship's re- 
peated resentments against me, I doubt not but my innocence 
would not only effectually justify me, but remove those impres- 
sions imposed on Your Lordship by some persons about you. 

"And as to my preaching ; being found at the trial against no 
law nor any ways inconsistent with Her Majesty's Instructions 
produced there ; and considering the solemn obligations I am 
under, both to God and the souls of men, to embrace all oppor- 



478 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

tunities for exercising those ministerial gifts vouchsafed from 
Heaven, to whom I do appeal that I have no other end besides 
the glory of God and the eternal good of precious souls ; I must 
assure myself Your Lordship insists not on this now as a crime, 
especially in New York Government where all Protestants are 
upon an equal level of liberty and there is no legal Establish- 
ment for any particular Persuasion. 

" I hear I am charged with the Jersey Paper, called. Forget and 
Forgive. Though the proving a negative in my just vindication 
be a hard task and not an usual undertaking, yet I doubt not 
but the thing itself [will clear mej, the matter it contains being 
foreign to me; the time of its publication, being so soon spread 
abroad after my arrival. I am well assured that none dare legally 
accuse me, while the authors smile at Your Lordship's mistake and 
imposition, whose informers deserve to be stigmatized with the 
severest marks of Your Lordship's displeasure, and the authors 
will find a time to confront my sworn accusers with perjury. 
And besides that, I never saw it till about the last of February. 

'• We have suffered greatly in our reputations, and particularly 
by being branded with the character of Jesuits ; though my uni- 
versal known reputation in Europe and America, makes me easy 
under such invidious imputations. I have been represented to 
Your Lordship as being factious in the Government, both of Vir- 
ginia and Maryland. I have peaceably lived in Virginia, and I 
brought from Maryland a certificate of my past reputation, signed 
by some of the best quality of the most contiguous county, ready 
to be produced at the Trial, if there had been occasion for it. A 
copy of which I presume to inclose for Your Lordship's perusal 
and satisfaction. 

" I beg leave to represent to Your Lordship my just concern at 
the sundry Precepts for apprehending me, both in York and Jer- 
seys, as one of the greatest criminals ; whereby I am prevented in 
performing my own ministerial duties to many in Your Lordship's 
Government of my own Persuasion who desire it. I shall patient- 
ly expect Your Lordship's commands and directions, in giving 
me an opportunity for vindicating myself in what is charged 
against me, and being always ready to comply with any quali- 
fication enjoined and required by law. 

" I beg leave of Your Lordship to subscribe myself Your Ex- 
cellency's most humble and most obedient servant." 

While respectful, the letter abates nothing from the 
principles of law and liberty maintained in the trial. 



A. D. 1707.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 479 

He stands proudly upon his known character as a 
peer of the highest. The baseless accusations of per- 
jured informers are treated with the scorn they deserve, 
and he challenges investigation and an opportunity to 
prove his innocence. But it is all done as by one who 
respects dignities and honors the law. 

The opportunity for a fair vindication was not to 
be given. This is not the plan of those who mean to 
keep so eloquent a heretic and so skillful an organizer 
out of New York and the Jerseys. Cornbury has 
been disappointed in his attempts both upon Bownas 
and upon Makemie, and he wants no more judicial 
trials. Threatened incarceration, long delays, officers 
hungry for extortionate fees, the reiteration of un- 
proved charges and base slanders, — these are better 
weapons. 

Finally, Mr. Makemie opens his batteries upon this 
systematized tyranny. He will be heard. The whole 
disreputable procedure shall be held up to the execra- 
tion of people everywhere. The press has served him 
well in the past, and he resolves to touch this mighty 
lever once more. He has carefully preserved the im- 
portant documents in the case, and he draws up a full 
account of his treatment by the governor and his 
underlings, from the beginning through, and pub- 
lishes it to the world, exposing the unholy prosecu- 
tion in all its phases (75). He begins with the words : 

•' You have here a specimen of the clogs and fetters with which 
the liberty of Dissenters is entangled at New York and Jersey 
Governments beyond any places in Her Majesty's dominions." 

He closes the merciless exposure with the signifi- 
cant sentence : 



480 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

"A fair and legal decision cannot put an end to a controversy 
where the same fact is made criminal and a new Process violently 
designed and vigorously aimed at by such as nothing but the in- 
terposition of the authority of England will put a stop to." 

This latter clause is the more significant from his 
publishing in the same pamphlet an Act of Parliament 
of the year 1700 for punishing governors who shall be 
found " guilty of oppressing any of His Majesty's sub- 
jects beyond the seas." 

No answer is deigned by Lord Cornbury to Mr. 
Makemie's letter, and he reaches home as he can. 
But his injuries are not unnoted in the North. New 
York begins to be agitated with the voice of his 
wrongs, and to awake to the fact that their own sa- 
cred rights are in the grasp of a conscienceless usurper. 
Before the autumn has passed, the governor finds it 
necessary to undertake his own defence before his 
superiors in England. The violent blow aimed at 
Presbyterianism has proved a barren victory at last. 
In trying to crush the " strolling preacher " from the 
South, he did not know that he was arousing the same 
spirit which had overwhelmed his grandfather Claren- 
don and carried Clarendon's master to the block. Un- 
der date of October 14, we find him, with many mis- 
representations, thus writing to the Right Honorable 
Lords Commissioners for Trade and Commerce : 

" I trouble Your Lordships with these lines to acquaint you that 
on the 17th of January, 1707, a man of this town, one Jackson, 
came to acquaint me that two ministers were come to town, one 
from Virginia and one from Maryland, and that they desired to 
know when they might speak with me. I, being willing to show 
what civility I could to men of that character, ordered my man 
to tell Jackson that they should be welcome to come and dine 
with me. They came ; and then I found, by the answers they 
gave to the questions I asked them, that one whose name is 



A. D. 1707.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 48 1 

Francis Mackensie is a Presbyterian Preacher settled in Virginia; 
the other, whose name is John Hampton, a young Presbyteiian 
minister lately come to settle in Maryland. They dined with me 
and talked of indifferent matters. They pretended they were 
going toward Boston. They did not say one syllable to me of 
preaching here, nor did not ask leave to do it. They applied 
themselves to the Dutch minister for leave to preach in the 
Dutch church in this town ; who told them he was very wilhng 
provided they could get my consent. They never came to me 
for it." 

The governor prevaricates. Though the ministers 
did not themselves apply, yet, as seen in Mr. Make- 
mie's testimony, Anthony Young did apply and was 
refused. The letter continues : 

" They went Hkewise to the Elders of the Frv^nch Church ; they 
gave them the same answer the Dutch had. All this while they 
never applied themselves to me for leave, nor did they offer to 
qualify themselves as the law directs. But on the Monday fol- 
lowing, I was informed that Mackensie had preached on the day 
before at the house of one Jackson, a shoemaker in this town ; 
and that Hampton had preached on Long Island ; and that Mac- 
kensie had gone over thither with intent to preach in all the towns 
in that island, having spread a report thereto that they had a com- 
mission from the Queen to preach all along this continent. 

" I was informed on the same day from New Jersey, that the 
same men had preached in several places in that province, and 
had ordained after their manner some young men who had 
preached without it among the Dissenters;* and that, when 
asked if they had leave from the Government, they said they 
had no need of leave from any Governor ; that they had the 
Queen's authority for what they did. These reports, and the 
information I had from Long Island of their behavior there, 
induced me to send an order to the Sheriff of Queen's county 
to bring them to this place ; which he did on the 23rd of January 
in the evening. The Attorney General was with me. I asked 
Mackensie how he came to preach in this Government without 
acquainting me with it, and without qualifying as the law re- 

* Evidently Boyd at Freehold, indicating pretty certainly the place 
of the first Presbytery with which the present old presbyterial records 
open. 

31 



482 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

quires ? He told me he had qualified himself according to law 
in Virginia ; and that, having done so, he would preach in any 
part of the Queen's dominions where he pleased ; that this prov- 
ince is a part of the Queen's dominions as well as Virginia, and 
that the license he had obtained there, was as good as any he 
could obtain here. 

" I told him that Virginia was part of the Queen's dominions 
as well as this province, but that they are two different govern- 
ments, and that no law or order of that province can take place 
in this, any more than any order or law of this province can 
take place in that ; which no reasonable man would imagine 
could be allowed. He told me he understood the law as well as 
any man, and was satisfied he had not offended against the law ; 
that the penal laws did not extend to, and were not enforced in 
America. To which the Attorney General replied that if the 
penal laws did not take place in America, neither did the Act 
of Toleration ; ' nor is it proper,' said he, ' that it should, since 
the latter is no more than a suspension of the former.' 

" Mackensie said that the Queen granted liberty of conscience 
to all her subjects without reserve. I told him he was so far in 
the right ; that the Queen was graciously pleased to grant Hberty 
of conscience to all her subjects except Papists ; that he might be 
a Papist, for all I knew, under pretence of being of another per- 
suasion ; and that, therefore, it was necessary that he should 
have satisfied the Government what he was before he ventured 
to preach. He said he would qualify himself in any manner 
and would settle in this province. I told him that, whenever 
any of the people in either of the provinces under my govern- 
ment had desired leave to call a minister of their own persua- 
sion, they had never been denied ; but that I should be very 
cautious how I allowed a man so prone to bid defiance to Gov- 
ernment as I found he was. He said he had done nothing he 
could not answer. 

" So I ordered the High Sheriff of this city to take them into 
custody, and I directed the Attorney General to proceed against 
them as the law directs ; which he has done by preferring an in- 
dictment against Mackensie for preaching in this city without 
qualifying himself as the Act of Toleration directs. The grand 
jury found the bill ; but the petit jury acquitted him. So he has 
gone toward New England, uttering many severe threats against 
me. As I hope I have done nothing in this matter but what I 
was obliged in duty to do, especially since I think it is very plain 
by the Act of Toleration it was not intended to tolerate or allow 



A. D. 1707.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 483 

strolling preachers, but only those persons who dissent from the 
Church of England should be at liberty to serve God after their 
own way in the several places of their abode, without being liable 
to the penalties of certain laws ; so I entreat Your Lordships' pro- 
tection against this malicious man who is well-known in Virginia 
and Maryland to be a disturber of the peace and quiet of all the 
places he comes into." 

And yet at this very time Lord Cornbury had in 
hand the certificate of many leading citizens of Som- 
erset county that this was not the case ! It is pitiful 
to see the persecutor pleading for protection against 
his intended victim and trying to secure safety by 
perversion of the facts. He goes on trying to preju- 
dice the minds of the English authorities against Mr. 
Makemie : 

" He is a Jack-at-all-trades ; he is a preacher, a doctor of physic, 
a merchant, an attorney, a counsellor at law, and, which is worst 
of all, a disturber of governments. I should have sent Your 
Lordships this account sooner, but I was wilhng to see the issue 
of the trial. I am. My Lords, Your Lordships' most faithful, 
humble servant."* 

It will be noticed that the most flagrant circum- 
stances of the case are here concealed. Nor is one 
word said of the queen's instructions, upon which the 
prosecution and Cornbury's claims of ecclesiastical au- 
thority were principally based. It is amusing to read 
the hard-pressed governor's caricatures of the pioneer, 
whose usefulness is not the less because he distributes 
both medicine and legal advice among a poor and 
primitive people. Evidently, the parson of the Poco- 
moke has frightened the cousin of Queen Anne until 
Lord Cornbury has become as censorious as Madam 
Tabitha Hill herself! 

* Webster, p, 307. Found in the Albany documents. 



4^4 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1707. 

Before closing this chapter, I will anticipate certain 
events of the following years. In his Narrative, Mr. 
Makemie had said : 

"Though the foregoing Trial has opened the eyes and unde- 
ceived most if not all at New York in this matter — for which they 
may thank a prison — so this is to enlighten, not only those abroad 
in the world, but also influence and direct the Assemblys of New 
York for the future ; in not giving a handle to any to pervert 
their laws contrary to the intention of the Legislators, or in not 
confirming by subsequent Acts their unjust possessions." 

Next year the Legislature took steps to prevent the 
recurrence of such infamous extortions upon those 
pronounced innocent by the courts. Cornbury grows 
more unpopular, parades the ramparts of Fort Anne 
dressed in women's clothes, and begins to exercise his 
tyranny upon ministers of the Establishment.* This 
despotism they had encouraged until it recoiled upon 
themselves. The home government finally removes 
him from office, and thereupon he is immediately 
arrested by his creditors and committed to the same 
prison where he had confined Makemie and Hamp- 
ton for nearly two months. He had fallen into the 
pit which he had digged.f 

While Presbyterianism has been fighting this battle 
for religious liberty upon American soil, the same war 
waxes hot in Ireland. The English government and 
their representative, the Earl of Pembroke, are doing 
what they can to protect Irish Dissenters in their rights, 
but the Anglican bishops and clergy are defeating 
these tolerant principles and enforcing the sacra- 
mental test. The old patriots of Derry and Ennis- 

^ Anderson's Colonial Church, iii. 300, 

f Smith's History of New York, I have taken account of trial from 
Makemie's Nar-rative — one of the Force Tracts in my possession. 



A. D. 1707.] THE DA YS OF MAKE MI E. 485 

killen refuse to yield, and are deprived of their civil 
rights all over the kingdom. It is a kinsman of these 
who has stood firmly for liberty of conscience in 
America, and who finally drove Lord Cornbury from 
power. 

The next time we saw Mr. Makemie in our new 
church at Rehoboth, he looked to me older and lack- 
ing something of his former vigor. It seemed strange 
to see our brave hero now walking with a cane and 
appearing to lean upon it at times, the black camlet 
cloak hanging about him loosely. Was this a sugges- 
tion of advancing years and of a vacancy ere long?* 

I am wondering if Mr. Makemie, during his sojourn 
in New England, saw the bright little foyr-year-old 
Jonathan Edwards, son of the godly father and 
queenly mother at Winsor, Connecticut. Did our 
minister smile upon the tiny one-year-old Benjamin 
Franklin in Boston? Did he meet with the Yale 
graduate of two years ago, Jonathan Dickinson, now 
twenty years old and just moving to Elizabethtown, 
New Jersey? and did our pioneer leave his blessing 
upon the sprightly young man? And, thinking of 
the children, I follow once more our minister in his 
former trip across the ocean to seek for ministers 
for the New World, and wonder if he sought them 
among the babies Gilbert and William in the house 
of the Episcopal clergyman William Tennent of 
Antrim, the first born in 1703 and the other in 1705 ? 

* Cloak and cane mentioned in his will, the latter " fixed " in 
Boston. 



CHAPTER XXX. 
A. D. 1708. 

" How unspeakably transporting must it be, when we come to a 
Dying Bed, to look back and see we have lived the Life of the Right- 
eous, and have a well-grounded hope we shall die the death of the 
Righteous !" — Makemie. 

ROBERT KING, now nineteen years old, has come 
over from his sister's, Mrs. Mary Jenkins, and 
takes our Httle Francis and the two Makemie girls for 
a stroll along the Pocomoke. Matchacoopah joins the 
little group, and I hear the children again trying to 
learn the language of the Nanticokes. He has been 
telling of their great king Winikako up on the Chop- 
tank, and speaks of him as ah-qitak (the sun) in moose- 
sac-qidt (the sky). 

" What is your word for * sick ' ?" was asked. 

" Hufttoimipy 

" For ' kill ' ?" 

" Nepoictowy 

" What is the word for * dead man ' ?" 

" Tsee-epl' dwelling upon the last syllable solemnly. 

The same is their word for ** ghost." 

"What do you call the place where the dead are 
deposited ?" 

" Mutz-iick-aimpqy 

" What is the name of the house where you keep 
their bones after the flesh has all crumbled away?" 

486 



A. D. 1708.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 487 

"Sometimes niantokump ; sometimes chio-ca-son. 
There the bad white men would have sent my nee- 
ee-wah (wife) with their cruel timt (the fire)." * 

" What do you call the grave ?" 

Why did the children's minds still think of these 
sadder things ? 

The Indian answered, 

" Wazvskor 

"And what is your word for death ?" 

" Sometimes imguelack ; sometimes ewashawaak^ 

The Indian's voice was drear and weird. 

The sweet childish tones answered : 

" But religion makes all this pleasant and cheerful. 
What is your word for religion ?" 

''Lap-poi-o-wees, ' ' 

" When war is over, what is your word for peace ?" 

'^ E-wee-ni-tu!' 

While I have been preserving some fragments of 
this strange dialect to go on sounding in concert with 
the waves of the sea and the sighs of the pines far 
into the future years, it may not be amiss to introduce 
my last chapter with such words as touch the destiny 
of every race, savage and civilized, and the synonyms 
of which will never cease along these shores. 

I thought then, as I have thought often since, of 
Mr. Makemie's words : 

" Whatever are our tossings by Divine Providence here, it will 
afford abundant consolation in all ups and downs by prosperity 
and adversity, in sickness and health, that we have made con- 
science of our former ways both toward God and toward our 
neighbor. Sure nothing can be more desirable and comfortable 

*The manuscript vocabulary of Mr. Murray, taken in 1792, says: 
"Winikako's body was preserved and kept in a chiocason-\iQi\x^Q:\ 
seventy years dead." 



4^8 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1708. 

than the testimony of a good conscience, which is a continual 
feast, that we have walked blamelessly in all manner of conver- 
sation ; especially at the hour of death when that grim king of 
terrors looks us in the face." * 

Since his long contest in the North, we all feel the 
moral grandeur of Mr. Makemie's character more than 
ever. Undoubtedly the prominence there given him by 
his persecutors and his brave stand for the rights of 
our Church will go farther than anything else to attract 
and weld together the scattered Presbyterian elements. 
He is as attentive to business as ever. I hear of one 
more suit brought by him down in Accomack, through 
his friend and attorney Andrew Hamilton, against 
Thomas Bonnewell. His training in these courts, 
his settlement of the Anderson and Custis estates, 
and all the attendant worriment from Madam Tabitha 
Hill, were long fitting him, as we did not dream, for 
his mission before. the chief-justice of New York. A 
well-rounded, practical man, of clear judgment, sound 
sense and gentlemanly bearing, prepared for all the 
emergencies of a new country and a population made 
up of various nationalities, he is pre-eminently the 
man for the times. Managing African slaves, em- 
ploying Indian servants, helping indentured refugees, 
superintending his large business interests, mingling 
with the lower classes and unabashed at the table of 
governors, — he need not be greatly offended at Corn- 
bury's epithet, " Jack-at-all-trades." No one could 
add " master of none." 

I love to keep in mind the picture of him as I 
saw him this spring walking with his little daughters 
around the new church at Rehoboth, built upon his 

* New York sermon. 



A. D. 1708.] THE DAYS OF AIAKEMIE. 489 

own land, and viewing the loved American sanctuary 
and its grounds. Was there the look of triumph in his 
blue eyes and over the fine forehead while he thought 
of the full achievement of noble purposes? This 
finished structure, a second and larger forest-temple, 
in sight of his first landing-place a quarter of a cen- 
tury ago ; Mr. Macnish preaching up at Rockawalkin, 
and also in another new church at Monokin ; Mr. 
Hampton about to be installed at Snow Hill ; the 
mother-Presbytery thoroughly organized and reach- 
ing out on all sides for wider acquisitions of numbers 
and influence, — well might he be glad of heart and 
glory in the Sceptre which had prospered him. Is 
there an expression upon his face as upon the face of 
Simeon when he said, " Now lettest thou thy servant 
depart in peace "? 

How rapidly the time has flown, like fish-hawk or 
eagle over Eastern Shore streams ! Mary, the rosy 
Scotch lassie, Peggy, the blue-eyed maid of Ulster, 
Margaret, the sweet singer of the Vincennes, and the 
writer of this journal too, are beginning to look very 
matronly, our nurseries well stocked with a mingling 
of races and our heads already streaking with gray. 
Even Naomi, the bright Virginia girl, is forty years 
old. To put away the sadder thoughts that force 
themselves upon the spring-time which is abroad 
by forest and river, I ask my Huguenot sister-in-law 
to sing me a song of the Troubadours, and, behold ! 
she has just sung an elegy by Aymerie of Beauvoir: 

" Sanchez is dead ! Ah ! woe is me! 
I cannot sing for sighing ; 
Or if I do, alas ! 'twill be 
As sings the swan in dying. 



490 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1708. 

" With mournful tears mine eyes are dim, 
My heart is pierced with son-ow ; 
The dirge I weave to-day for him 
Will serve for me to-morrow. 

" I weep not for the good and brave, 
For he is blest in heaven ; 
But all I've buried in the grave — 
To that my plaints are given." 

To cheer our minds Henry Hudson comes upon 
the scene, a new book in hand, published this year. 
The Quakers have always been a choice subject of 
ridicule to our incorrigible wit, and he is now de- 
lighted while he reads of the experience of the sot- 
weed factor in dealing with these perfectionists : 

" To this intent with Guide before, 

I tript it to the Eastern Shore. 

While riding near a Sandy Bay, 

I met a Quaker Yea and Nay ; 

A Pious Conscientious Rogue 
• As e'er wore Bonnet or a Brogue, 

Who neither Swore nor kept his Word 

But cheated in the Fear of God; 

And when his Debts he would not pay, 

By Light within he ran away. 

With this sly Zealot soon I struck 

A Bargain for my English Truck, 

Agreeing for ten thousand weight 

Of Sot-weed good and fit for freight, 

Broad Oronoko bright and sound, 

The growth and product of his ground. 

In Cask that should contain complete 

Five hundred of Tobacco neat. 

The Contract thus between us made. 

Not well acquainted with the Trade, 

My Goods I trusted to the Cheat 

Whose crop was then aboard the Fleet; 

And going to receive my own, 

I found the Bird already flown ! 



A. D. i7o8.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 49 1 

Cursing this execrable Slave, 

This mean pretended Godly Knave, 

On dire Revenge and Justice bent, 

I instantly to Counsel went, 

Unto an ambidexter Quack, 

Who learnedly had got the Knack 

Of giving Glisters, making Pills, 

Of filling Bonds and forging Wills, 

And with a stock of Impudence, 

Supply'd his want of Wit and Sense" (76). 

"One of our colony's Jack-at-all-trades : see the late 
epistle of Lord Cornbury," was the reader's comment. 

The " pettifogger doctor " is bribed, and the factor 
worse off than ever. 

"A severe satire," said William, "but from such 
contemporary burlesques some hints of truth may 
sometimes be obtained. The doctrine of perfection 
will always invite satire. Of his old opponent Mr. 
Makemie well says, * Actions are a better demon- 
stration of a work of grace than all Keith's vain- 
boasting language, which can be esteemed nothing 
else than a crying up and preaching himself instead 
of Christ.' " 

" Where now is George Keith ?" some one asked. 

" In England, settled as rector of Edburton, enjoy- 
ing a good maintenance and upsetting his old flings at 
the ' mercenary ' Presbyterians. His late fellow-mys- 
tics he continues to lash, only last year preaching and 
publishing a sermon against * the fundamental error of 
the Quakers that the light within them, and within 
every man, is sufficient to their salvation without any- 
thing else, whereby, as to themselves, they make void 
and destroy all revealed religion.' " * 

* Anderson's Colonial Church, iii. 232. 



492 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1708. 

Thus Mr. Makemie's opposers change and vacillate, 
while the doctrines and principles which he has planted 
remain as staunch and firmly rooted as the sturdy 
coast-oaks which bear and beat back the stormy 
north-easters. 

Meanwhile, another effort is made by the Established 

Church to stay the progress of our cause in this county, 

evidently inspired by our other Keith, the vigilant 

Robert, rector of Coventry Parish, a fair specimen 

of the Scotch prelatic clergy. On the 9th of June, 

at Dividing Creek, Captain John West, Captain John 

Franklin, Captain Charles Ballard, Mr. Joseph Ven- 

ables and Mr. Joseph Gray being upon the bench, 

the following petition is presented : 

" To the Worshipful Court of Somerset County, the petition of 
Moses Fenton and Pierce Bray sheweth that, in obedience to an 
Act of Parhament made the first year of King WiUiam and 
Queen Mary estabhshing the hberty of Protestant Dissenters, 
we in humble manner certifie to this Court that the new meeting- 
house lately built at Rehoboth Town, is one of the fixed places 
for the public service or worship of God by Protestant Dissenters, 
and Your Worships are in humble manner prayed to direct your 
Clerk to record the same and give certificate thereof to any who 
will require it ; for which we are ready to pay the fee specified in 
the last paragraph of said Act of Parliament, and the petitioners 
as in duty bound shall always pray &c." 

Mr. Makemie has already made arrangements for 
the transfer to the church of the land on which the 
meeting-house is built, as will appear hereafter, and he 
wishes the elders to put our rights upon a thoroughly 
legal footing. The question is discussed by the judges, 
and the majority — Franklin, Venables and Ballard — 
decide to grant the petition, West and Gray entering 
their dissent with the following reasons : 

" This same thing concerning the Church built at Rehoboth 



A. D. i7o8.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 493 

Town by Dissenting Protestants was layed before the Governor 
and Councill and no final result has been returned to this Court 
since concerning the premises."* 

Thus it will be seen that there is still a party which 
is disposed to enforce the policy of the rectors and 
keep our ministers outlawed and our churches closed 
through official delays. 

On the next day the following order is recorded : 

"This day, viz., the loth of June, 1708, ordered that the new 
meeting-house built by Protestant Dissenters at Rehoboth Town 
in Somerset County in the Province of Maryland, be and hereby 
is appointed to be a house for the worship of Almighty God in, 
the minister thereunto appointed having qualified himself as law 
required. Entered per order. 

"Alex. Hall, Clerk.'^ 

So that matter is settled, and we believe that this 
second temple, built upon the birthplace of our Amer- 
ican Presbyterianism, is registered on high upon more 
enduring records by the great Head of the Church 
himself. 

On the same day with the preceding order the fol- 
lowing paper was also presented : 

" To the Worshipful, the Judge and Justices of the Court of 
Somerset, humbly sheweth, That, whereas divers persons in and 
about Monokin, of the Presbyterian Interest and Persuasion, 
have built a meeting-house for the public exercise of their rehg- 
ious worship, and hard by Monokin Bridges, and being willing 
to satisfy the law according to Act of Parliament in petitioning 
the County Court where a meeting-house is or shall be erected 
that it may be put on public record; In compliance therefore 
with the end and design of the law in such case, your petitioner 
in name of the persons foresaid do request that house foresaid 
may be legally recorded as law wills. And your petitioner shall 
pray &c. 

''Jtme loth, 1708. George McNish." 

*The author has failed to find any such reference with regard to 
Rehoboth on the Somerset records. 



494 THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1708. 

The court unanimously orders that the record be 
made. I suppose that the scruples of Justices West 
and Gray are satisfied by the fact that the governor 
and the Council had directed that the old church at 
Monokin should be recorded two years ago. 

This very year Governor Seymour and the Legisla- 
ture are so shocked by the increasing immorality of 
the clergy in the Maryland Establishment that they 
are trying to devise a court of laymen to take cogni- 
zance of these errors and suppress the debauchery of 
these " Successors of the Apostles." So the Virginia 
Assembly had been compelled to take action with 
regard to their licentious ministry in 1632 : 

" Ministers shall not give themselves to excesse in drinkinge 
or ryott, spending their time idelie by day or by night playinge 
at dice, cards, or any other unlawful game." 

There stands the telltale law upon the statutes of 
the Old Dominion for ever. 

The admirers of Episcopacy are alarmed at the pro- 
posed interposition of our provincial authorities, and 
clamor against the remedy proposed. The lay-ele- 
ment among the judges reminds them painfully of 
our Presbyterian church-courts, and they resist it 
bitterly as 

•• a Presbyterian form of ministers and ruling lay Elders ; and as 
laying a foundation for the introduction of a Presbyterian form 
of Church-government in the Church of England in Maryland, 
as well as subversion of the Canons of the Church which give 
the Bishop alone power to pronounce sentence."* 

The prevailing profligacy of the clergy and all the 
widening corruptions are preferred by these Church- 
men to anything that even looks like Presbyterianism ! 

* Bishop Hawks's Maryland, p. 130 ; archives at Fulham. 



A. D. 1708.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 495 

Thus the restraints enacted by the Assembly are de- 
feated, and the disgrace continues. Well may Mr. 
Makemie say, 

" It is too notorious how our Christian religion is evil spoken 
of by the pernicious ways of its followers and professors." 

I find myself tarrying in my history, my pen almost 
refusing to go on. I am inclined to speak of the 
great contemporary wars in Europe ; the heroic strug- 
gle of Charles XII. of Sweden against Czar Peter; the 
great victories at Oudenard and Lille by Marlborough 
and the allies over Louis of France ; of the appoint- 
ment to the government of Ireland of the firm friend 
of the Presbyterians, the Earl of Wharton, with the 
young man Joseph Addison as his secretary ; while all 
the wit of Dean Swift is arrayed against the rights of 
the Irish Dissenters. I might delay with the details 
of local history — the vote of Assembly to form a town 
of fifty acres in Sinepuxent Neck, on the land of John 
Walton called *' Neighborhood " — an enactment de- 
feated by the veto of the governor ; or I might tell of 
the trial of our mischievous friend Henry Hudson at 
Dividing Creek on a charge of wronging the red 
men. 

Under date of April 2, the week preceding the ap- 
pointed meeting of Presbytery, appears this record : 

"Articles of agreement between Her Majesty and ye friendly 
Indians read in Court on a complaint made by King Daniel and 
some of their great men, concerning ye burning of their corn- 
fields and fencing, and other enormities by some done. Being 
demanded of the Court here if they knew any of them, they 
replied Henry Hudson was one and that John Dennis could 
inform the Court more fully. Wherefore ordered by the Court 
here that the Clerk issue out a Summons for Henry Hudson to 
appear June Court next and answer the complaint aforesaid; 



49^ THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE, [A. D. 1708. 

and that John Dennis be summoned on part of the Indians to 
appear the next June Court to inform the Court to the best of 
his knowledge concerning the premises." 

The jolly Henry is in trouble at last. But, knowing 
the determination of our courts to protect the children 
of the forest, our friend is too wise to let the matter 
come to trial without a compromise with the King of 
the Pocomokes; so, on the nth of the Fawn Moon — 
the next day after the recording of Rehoboth and 
Monokin — the following action was taken : 

" This day the plaintiff, the Indians, appeared and the defend- 
ant Henry Hudson ; and the defendant being interrogated by the 
Worshipful Court, replyed he did light a fire but not with any 
design to do any damage to the Indians. Whereupon the In- 
dians being demanded what damages they had sustained by the 
fire, replyed they were satisfied and had agreed with the said 
Hudson. Wherefore the Court dismissed the said Hudson, he 
paying the fees become due according to law." 

Says Matchacoopah, 

' " Weesaiice pattin (the wise eel) slipped out of man- 
note (the basket)." 

We feel no little pride that these original owners of 
the woods and streams of the Eastern Shore have 
never failed of redress from our county authorities 
whenever they please to seek it. Nor are we less 
proud that Mr. Makemie has plead for an apostolic 
zeal " in propagating the true knowledge of the 
Christian Religion to all Pagans, whether Indians 
or Negroes." 

While the Episcopal Church in Maryland is virtually 
an anarchy and threatened with lay supervision, our 
own ecclesiastical system is in full and symmetrical 
exercise. It seems to me one of the noblest sights 
in our primitive history, these heroes of the cross, on 



A. D. 1708.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 497 

horseback and in rude sloops, starting out through 
the wilderness, exposed to all the hardships of weather 
or want, going to the appointed meeting, intent upon 
the Master's business. In a letter to the ministers of 
Connecticut this year they thus speak : 

"Through the good providence of our Lord Jesus Christ assist- 
ing us, we the ministers of the Gospel of the Presbyterian persua- 
sion, in this province and those adjacent, taking into our serious 
consideration the case and circumstances of our holy rehgion in 
these parts, have, to our greal toil and labor and great difficulty 
to divers of us, by reason of our great distance from one another, 
formed ourselves into a Presbytery, annually to be convened, for 
the furthering and promoting the true interest of religion and god- 
liness." 

This spring they fail to meet at the time set, 
the first Tuesday of April. Probably the feeble 
health of their recognized leader, primus inter pares, 
caused the postponement. They meet on the i8th 
of May, but still he is not there. Mr. Davis, now 
for twenty-four years on this peninsula, is elected 
moderator. Six ministers and three elders are pres- 
ent. Cohanzy, in West Jersey, seeks Presbyterial 
oversight, and Woodbridge and Amboy are moving 
too, Woodbridge church asking help in relieving itself 
from an Independent minister. A letter is sent to 
Monokin and Wicomico " exciting them to their duty 
to pay what they promise to Mr. Macnish," and also 
one to the people of Snow Hill " requiring their faith- 
fulness and care in collecting the tobacco promised by 
subscription to Mr. Hampton." Mr. Davis and Mr. Mac- 
nish are appointed to " inaugurate " the latter. This duty 
has since been performed by Mr. Macnish, Mr. Davis 
not attending. Thus, at Snow Hill, on the banks of the 
little Pocomoke, with the Indian canoes still ploughing 

32 



49^ THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1708. 

its waters, for the first time on this continent has a 
pastor been installed under Presbyterial authority- 
Here, too, the first published book of Mr. Makemie 
will be useful in training our youthful charges. In 
his answer to George Keith he says : 

" In my Catechism for young ones, I lay down the several 
duties of ministers and people." 

Everything reminds me of something the pioneer 
has said or written. Now I recall his testimony in 
his reply to the carping Quaker: 

" I have upon all occasions publicly taught, and do and shall, 
in the strength of Jesus Christ, firmly believe and that utito the 
end, the illuminating, sanctifying, mortifying, quickening opera- 
tions of the Holy Spirit of God in the heart of every believer, in 
restoring the corrupted soul to the forfeited image of God." 

I remember, too, his ringing appeal, in his Perswa- 
sive, for advancing both the material and the religious 
interests of the two sister-colonies : 

" Now at length put on a public spirit ; combine with harmoni- 
ous and united counsels, avoiding partiality, waiving self-interest 
or causing it to truckle to the common good ; arm yourself against 
all dividing debates and smother or stifle all heats in your public 
consultations ; and look upon this as the happy juncture and 
period for commencing the happiness of Virginia and Mary- 
land." 

Again I think of his brave and self-sacrificing de- 
fence of soul-liberty until he shakes to their founda- 
tions the usurpations of Cornbury : 

" We cannot, we dare not, be silent at this juncture but are 
bound to let both Europe and America know the first prosecution 
of this kind that ever was in America ; which we hope, from the 
merits of the case, manner and proceeding and its unsuccessful- 
ness, will never be drawn into precedent in our quiet and peace- 
able wilderness." 



A. D. 1708.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 499 

Now I remember, in his pastoral to the people of 
Barbadoes, his emphatic endorsement of the Calvin- 
istic theology of the land of Wishart and Knox and 
its tenet of election and reprobation : 

"Though I owe not my birth but a part of my education only 
to that kingdom, yet having read many of their books, heard 
several of their ministers, for several years, on all doctrines of 
the Christian religion, and having always with me their Confes- 
sion of Faith, their Catechisms, with many sound and excellent 
Treatises ; I do profess myself fully of their sentiments in this 
and all other doctrines of faith, and in God's strength shall never 
swerve nor prevaricate !" 

At last the time has come when to such memorable 
words I am to add parts of another document, full of 
his deep heart-interest in his friends and of manly care 
for his loved ones, showing his appreciation of high 
Christian culture, evidencing to the end his business- 
like ways and administrative skill, proving his undy- 
ing love for his favorite Rehoboth and his estimate of 
Philadelphia as a predestined centre of wide Presby- 
terian influence, embodying his gratitude to the divine 
Giver of all his possessions, and putting upon record, 
as a testimony to future generations, his calm personal 
trust in the glorious Saviour whose name he had 
preached from Barbadoes to Boston. 

For some while we saw that his health was failing, 
but we remembered his recovery from " tedious ill- 
ness " seventeen years ago, and hoped on. He knew 
what was coming better than we. The Maryland 
spring-time brought no relief On the 27th of April, 
three weeks before the Presbytery met, there was a 
gathering of friends at his house — a business-call as 
well as one of friendship. These were Elizabeth 
Davis, Elizabeth Price, John Parker of Mattapani, 



500 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1708. 

Andrew Hamilton, TuUy Robinson and John Lewis. 
The latter are prominent citizens in the colony, and in 
their presence he thus testifies in contemplation of 
what soon may be: 

"In the name of God amen. I, Francis Makemie, of the 
county of Accomack, in Her Majesty's dominion of Virginia, 
being weak and infirm of body but in perfect soundness of mind 
and memory, and sensible of the universal frailty of life and an 
approaching dissolution by death, and desirous to settle that 
estate which God in his bounty hath been pleased to bestow 
upon me and for preventing future differences which may arise 
concerning the same ; committing my body to ye dust decently 
to be interred and my immortal soul to an Almighty and Most 
Merciful God in hopes of a glorious and blessed resurrection 
unto eternal Salvation through the efficacy of the powerful merits 
of the Lord Jesus Christ, our blessed and glorious Redeemer ; I 
do hereby revoke, make null and void all wills and testaments 
heretofore by me made, and do make, constitute and ordain this 
to be my last will and testament in manner and form following." 

To his " kinsman " William Boggs * he gives a negro 
man named "Jupiter." To his own wife and two 
daughters he gives forty books apiece, to be selected 
from his English library by Naomi ; the survivor to 
have them all. To Mr. Andrew Hamilton, the attor- 
ney and friend, he bequeaths all his law-books. The 
remainder of his thousand volumes he wills to Mr. 
Andrews of the First church of Philadelphia and his 
successors " of the Presbyterian or Independent per- 
suasion," the books to be put upon record and remain 
as " a constant library for ye use of foresaid minister or 
ministers successively for ever." f To Mr. Andrews 
he also leaves his black camlet cloak and his " new 
cane bought and fixed at Boston." 

* Tradition says Mr. Makemie's nephew. Many descendants of the 
name are found in Accomack, 
f Where are these books ? 



A. D. 1708.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE, 5OI 

To his daughter Elizabeth he bequeaths eight hun- 
dred and fifty acres of land on the south part and con- 
tiguous to Sykes's Island ; also two hundred acres of 
swamp called " Dumfreece," "near Pocomoke Bridges;" 
also either the marshes on the south side of Crooked 
Creek or the marshes promised in exchange therefor 
by Samuel Sandford ; also his lots at Onancock. 

To his daughter Anne he gives one hundred and 
seventy-four acres on Watts's Island ; also three hun- 
dred and fifty acres on the south side of Matchatank 
Creek ; also one hundred and fifty acres, part of the 
land once owned by James Howker; also the "lot 
where ye smith's shop was built on ye townland at 
Onancock, commonly called Scarborough Town." 

His lot and house "at ye town in Princess Anne 
county on ye Eastern Branch of Elizabeth River," 
also his " lot and house or frame of a house in the new 
town on Wormley's Creek called Urbanna," also his 
"lot joining to ye new Meeting-House lot in Poco- 
moke Town called Rehoboth," are to be sold by the 
executrix and the proceeds to go into the estate. 
Naomi is empowered 

" to make over and alienate that lot on which ye meeting-house 
is built in as ample a manner to all intents and purposes as shall 
be required for ye ends and uses of a Presbyterian Congregation 
as if I were personally present, and to their successors for ever ; 
and none else but to such of ye same persuasion in matters of 
religion." 

His "water and grist mill at Assawaman" is Naomi's 
for life, to be kept in good repair, and at her death to 
belong to the two daughters. 

His twelve hundred and sixty acres on Smith's Island 
are left to Elizabeth and Anne. His negro slaves and 



502 THE DAYS OF MAKE M IE. [A. D. 1708. 

all the rest of his estate, real and personal, are given to 
wife and daughters, to be equally divided between them, 
and to revert to the longest liver. If his children have 
no issue, all the property left in this will is entailed upon 
his 

" youngest sister Anne Makemie of ye kingdom of Ireland and 
the two eldest sons of brothers John and Robert Makemie, both 
of ye name of Francis." 

An exact inventory of his estate is to be taken and 
put upon record. No division of property is to be 
made until all debts are paid. Mr. Andrew Hamilton, 
Captain John Watts, Mr. Robert Pitt and Mr. James 
Kemp, his *' trusty and good friends," are named as 
advisers in the settlement of the estate, in taking the 
inventory and appraising and dividing. Now his heart 
is laid bare still more : 

"I do constitute, appoint and ordain my dear and well-beloved 
wife Naomi Makemie my Executrix of this my last will and testa- 
ment ; committing to her and her only the guardianship and tu- 
torship of my aforesaid children whilst in minority, during her 
natural life. And in case of ye death of my dear wife before 
this will is proved and executed, or ye arrival of my said daugh- 
ters Elizabeth and Anne Makemie at age, I do constitute, ap- 
point and ordain the Honorable Col. Francis Jenkins of Somerset 
county in Maryland and Mary Jenkins his lady and beloved con- 
sort Executors of this will and guardians to my said children 
during their minority and till marriage ; charging all persons 
concerned, in ye presence of Almighty and Omniscient God, to 
give and allow my said children a sober, virtuous and religious 
education, either here or elsewhere, as in Britain, New England 
or Philadelphia ; and that no other person or persons, courts or 
judicatories whatsoever, besides my Executrix or Executors 
nominated and appointed and whom th-ey shall appoint in case 
of the mortality of Executors already appointed, shall have any 
power to intermediate with my said estate, real or personal, or 
the tutory or guardianship of my said children without incurring 
ye penalty of the Statute of Wards and Liveries and thereby 



A. D. 1708.] THE DAYS OF MA.KEMIE. 503 

liable to an action of Trespass. My will and pleasure is that, 
in case of my wife marrying, she have power and authority, if 
she apprehend it requisite or necessary, either before or after 
marriage, to relinquish her Executorship and commit ye same 
with relation to her children's estate and guardianship unto ye 
trust, care and management of Col. Francis Jenkins and his 
lady."* 

While few in either Europe or America are taught 
to write or to read, we see the good man's appreciation 
of the culture of the female mind and his anxiety that 
this shall consist of something higher than mere out- 
ward or secular accomplishments. Scotland leads the 
world in her system of parochial schools, and in her 
care that its benefits shall not be narrowed to either 
sex. The dying father's views and hopes are as broad 
as Scotland's. 

The weak and infirm body of the good man grows 
more frail as spring passes into summer. The sea- 
breeze that blows from ocean to bay brings no return 
of the rich, warm complexion which once, with brown 
hair and eyes of blue, formed our ideal of handsome 
manhood. 

Dr. Charles Barrett comes and goes,t and there is 
no improvement. The decline is not rapid, but sure. 
Mr. William Coman takes charge of the house and 
assists the family while the feebleness increases. Need 

* Colonel Jenkins died within a year or two after Makemie. His 
widow married Mr, Makemie's successor at Rehoboth, the Rev. John 
Henry, and afterward the Rev. John Hampton. Her old broken 
tombstone lies now on the ground, under a tree, on the Jenkins prop- 
erty, just below Rehoboth. She died in 1744, seventy years old, lack- 
ing three days. Her brother married Anne Makemie. 

f Accomack records : " To Dr. Charles Barrett for means and visits 
in Mr. Makemie's last sickness — five pounds. To Mr. WilHam Coman 
for funeral and trouble of his house in Mr. Makemie's sickness — twelve 
pounds." 



504 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1708. 

I say that there is sadness along our many little rivers, 
throughout our inland churches and over to the sea- 
board ? Rehoboth is under deep shadows. So the 
days pass on hopelessly toward midsummer.* The 
founder of the American Presbyterian Church is going 
away. 

Our little Francis wonders at the general sorrow, 
and weeps in sympathy with an anxiety not fully un- 
derstood. The negroes wander around the premises 
at Houlston's Creek, watching the windows and wait- 
ing in silence. Indian Peter wonders if the Good 
Spirit is going to take away the great werowance\ of 
the Christians. 

Shall I go on? 

One evening Peggy of Ulster and her husband were 
sitting with William and myself in front of the "wigwam 
in the pines," talking of our sick pastor, when a strange, 
weird, hollow, rushing sound seemed to pass directly 
over our heads and the whole atmosphere seemed to 
tremble with sighs. Did not the pine trees moan and 
the cypresses, fringed with crape, bow earthward as if 
awaiting a storm ? And yet the sky was cloudless 
and the stars were bright, and no passing terror could 
be seen. But we sat as if under a spell, and nature, 
tremulous and in dread, seemed to feel it too. Was 
it funeral music or dying groans that filled the air 
and hurried through the sky, past Rehoboth and down 
the river toward the west and the south ? Our breath 
was almost taken away and our hearts almost ceased 
to beat, and we sat dumb until that mysterious rushing 

* Will probated "August ye 4th 1708." Died not long before, 
f Name for chieftain among the Powhatan tribes, of which the Ac- 
comack Indians were a part. 



A. D. i7o8.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMTE. 505 

dirge had wailed itself into the distance. Then whis- 
pered my friend, 

" It is the Banshee ! It follows our families over the 
sea. It is the harbinger of death." * 

Now, on one of these days, while the good man rest- 
ed and his eyes looked from the window westward 
to where the blue of the sound and the blue of the 
sky meet and mingle, golden ripples upon the azure 
of the waters and golden cloudlets upon the azure of 
the heavens, by and by his eyes partly close, and the 
watchers believe that the weary one is sleeping. I try 
to follow his vision, and there seems to come before 
him — perhaps upon the bosom of a flowing river, or 
out yonder far away — something which I hardly dare 
to tell, and yet something without which my story 
would be incomplete. 

Only a few months appear to glide away, when to 
his side, there by the plantation grave, one of his dar- 
ling daughters — yes, it is Betty — seems to come smil- 
ingly and lovingly, dressed for the tomb and for 
heaven, and to lie down fondly near her father's 
bosom. Mother and sister would fain detain her, but 
she wearies for the strong embraces she once knew ; 
and she turns away from the fatherless home and 
seeks again the lost companionship. Then is heard a 
voice like that which once wept on the plains of Beth- 
lehem : " Call me not Naomi ; call me Mara ; for the 
Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me" {jj). 

*01d people tell us that something like this actually occurred just 
before the death of " Parson Wallace," an Irish minister buried at 
Dover. People at Poplartown who heard it were much startled, but 
the parson assured them that it always followed his family, that it fore- 
boded his approaching end, and that they need have no fears for them- 
selves. 



5o6 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1708. 

Still the eyes of the invalid are out upon the waters 
— waters bearing ever onward ; and a day comes — 
twenty years, thirty years, from now? — when the be- 
loved wife also weans from all things earthly, sees no 
more the flowers of yellow and of blue in the marshes 
where the blackbirds build, and is willing to lie down 
by the side of her father, her husband and her 
child {:j^). 

The years pass on — many years in the estimates of 
earth, not long as it looks from the borders of eter- 
nity — and the younger daughter, now an old woman 
white-haired and bowed, far on yonder amid the vast 
results of her father's labors, interested in the new 
Western nation and the growing Church, finally lays 
down the weight of years and is gathered to her 
loved ones in the same country burial-ground. Then 
there are none left of the blood of Makemie; but the 
name lives and scatters fragrance and beauty through 
all the far centuries. 

Still the blue eyes rest upon the distant vistas, and 
he looks upon another child of his, which does not 
wax old nor die. It appears as a fertile vine planted 
by God's hand between the two beautiful bays, send- 
ing out its living branches to all points of the compass. 
The Long Island and New Jersey churches lift the 
Presbyterian banner and fall into line with Rehoboth. 
Others follow all over the land. New Presbyteries are 
formed, and a Synod ere long. 

Still the pioneer gazes out upon the waters, and his 
face brightens. God's presence shines like the She- 
china. Glorious refreshings descend, and souls are 
flocking to Christ. God is preparing the Church for 
grander expansion. 



A. D. i7o8.] THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. 507 

But, alas ! clouds are seen rising over the ark. There 
is contention, there is sundering. Good men are at 
variance, and the seamless robe is torn. The heart 
of the dying man is troubled. But Jehovah has not 
forsaken. Brighter days dawn again, and, lo ! the 
two Synods are one. 

Meanwhile, the son of Donegal seems to see thou- 
sands of his fellow-countrymen coming from Ulster, 
spreading through Pennsylvania, up the Virginia val- 
ley and on into Carolina. Knowing in other days 
of blessed revivals in Ireland, they welcome now the 
fruits of the American Pentecost with grateful hearts. 
In the track of orthodoxy follow able, earnest preach- 
ers, and the tide-waters of Makemie's adopted prov- 
ince, and the regions beyond, begin to blossom as the 
rose. For now is heard the eloquent voice of another 
apostle of Presbyterianism — one born upon the same 
peninsula where the Church was first planted, one who 
had been won to Christ at the same early age as him- 
self* 

And now, out yonder upon the stream of time, there 
seems to be the noise of conflict, the battle-cry of free- 
dom. A mighty republic is born. Once he had said 
of this " medley and mixture of nations," 

" Heats and animosities and separate interests, backed with 
pride and envy, will keep them asunder from ever uniting under 
a single head." 

But there have been great changes. No king nor 
bishop rules the state. The people are sovereign. No 
favored Church domineers. The soul-freedom for 
which he contended in New York has triumphed. 

* Samuel Davies, born in Delaware in 1723, and converted when fif- 
teen years old. 



508 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1708. 

The successors of Robert Keith and Alexander Ad- 
ams are no longer in power. Presbyterianism has 
filled the army and the councils of the nation with 
heroes. Just one hundred years from the time Makemie 
set foot upon American soil, peace is proclaimed, inde- 
pendence achieved (1683-1783). The contest won, 
the Church nerves herself for grander victories. 

It is amid the calm that follows in the state and 
amid the gladness of the young republic, and while 
the Church is renewing her youth like the eagles', 
that the younger daughter, having lived to witness 
the triumph of her father's principles, comes cheerfully 
and lies down to sleep with the kindred dust (79). 

As the century dies there arise before him new Pen- 
tecostal visions. Revivals go on brightening the years. 
The vine is throwing out its prolific branches every- 
where. A new missionary spirit seizes and sways the 
energies of Zion. Frontiers and foreign heathendom 
are conquered for Christ. Another instrumentality 
comes into action, claiming the cJiildi'eii for the Mas- 
ter — Sunday-schools singing the praises of Jesus. 
The air is full of youthful voices well attuned. The 
dying man, converted on the hills of Donegal at fifteen 
years of age, seems to be a boy again, and to mingle 
his voice with theirs in the juvenile choruses. 

Colleges and divinity schools dot the broad land, 
north and south and east and west. Great agencies 
are set in motion for educating God's worthy poor 
for the ministry, for the dissemination of religious lit- 
erature, and for evangelizing our own continent and 
all lands. 

He who had plead in vain for the gathering of our 
scattered population into towns, sees the Chesapeake 



A. D. 1708.] THE DA YS OF MAKEMIE. 509 

bordered with large cities, the commerce of its shores, 
along which the Tabitha sailed, swelling to millions. 
Yes, and great cities up and down the coast, and far 
out westward to another ocean; and the spires of 
Presbyterian temples are in them all. 

A great Protestant empire fills the vast future. Error 
rises and falls, but the truth brought over from Ulster 
lives on. Quakerism, whose early extravagances he 
was called to combat in its fanatical attempts to break- 
down the visible Church and her visible ordinances, he 
sees fade away from the Lower Peninsula, until its past 
existence is indicated only by a graveyard here and 
there.* 

But hark ! The nation groans, and there are strife 
and rending. There has been sin, and the Church has 
shared the sin. The face of our founder is turned to 
the wall. But again dawn the days of peace and 
unity, the dark chasm yawning no more, Christians 
drawing nearer to one another and massing their in- 
fluence for advancing the common cause, the times 
of harsh judgments and of persecution for ever passed 
away, all churches loving one another more and more 
and bidding one another Godspeed in proclaiming the 
one glorious gospel, the great Presbyterian brother- 
hood, with its own rents healed, leading in the paths 
of charity and purity and universal kindliness. 

A smile settles upon the fading face as in rapt vision 
he watches the streams that flow away from the valley 
of the Pocomoke on toward the ocean of eternal love. 
The skill of Dr. Barrett is no longer needed, for the 

* A hill between Snow Hill and Berlin is called the "Old Quaker 
Buiying-Ground"— the only monument of the sect in those counties 
where George Fox and Story and Keith and Chalkley once preached. 



510 THE DAYS OF MAKEMIE. [A. D. 1708. 

great Physician has his case in hand and is about to 
remove him to more healthful climes. In the bright 
midsummer hours, while the illustrious Marlborough 
is gaining the famous victory in Flanders, another 
triumph is celebrated upon the banks of our sunny 
sound, and the victor of grace divine has gone up on 
high. 

The twenty-five years of busy life in " the American 
wilderness " are over — a quarter of a century moment- 
ous in the annals of time. 

On the plantation where his happy wedded years 
have been spent — the Anderson property which looks 
out to the " mother of waters " — we bury him (80). 
Prominent men from both provinces are there ; for, 
whatever the differences of religious belief, all recog- 
nize him as a man of mark and worth, a citizen of 
great value in a country like this. Mr. Macnish and 
Mr. Hampton feel bereaved as of a father. Rehoboth 
and Snow Hill and Monokin and Wicomico, and the 
seaboard outposts on up to Lewes, are sighing in 
unison with the perpetual requiems of the pines. 
The loved voice will be heard along these shores no 
more. The blue eyes sleep within an honored grave. 
Two little girls go out there daily to talk of papa and 
to weep. Shall not the children of our Church through 
the ages learn to think of him as their father too, and 
long to remember their Creator in the days of their 
youth as he did? 

Matchacoopah comes to our wigwam in the pines, 
bringing us a white flower from the Pocomoke Strand, 
and says, '^ Matt-whii-saiv-so waap-pay-ii mat-ah-ki-ween 
(the brave white chieftain) sends you this !" 



APPENDIX, 



1. Page II. Assateague, Sinepuxent. — The first mention of 
this neck of land found by me upon the Somerset records is 
under date of June lo, 1697, as follows : "Ordered that William 
Fausett be joined overseer for Seny Puxone with John Freeman." 

The lower end of the neck — called "Genezer" and containing 
two thousand acres — was granted to Edwin Wale (Whaley ?) and 
Charles Ratchff in 1679, and divided between the two in 1681 ; 
the former was living there in 1679. Another tract northward 
was granted to Francis Jenkins in 1678, and contained fifteen 
hundred acres. On this the old patents mention an hidian 
field. Farther up is a tract called " Neighborhood," patented by 
William Walton in 1679. Still northward is a tract of two thou- 
sand acres patented by Colonel William Stevens in 1679. In 
this patent the bay is called "New Haven," and the Thorough- 
fare is mentioned. 

I find a patent on Selby's Bay as early as 1656, and one north 
of the Pocomoke, called "Auquintica," patented to George Wale 
in 1658. Our histories are mistaken in saying there were no set- 
tlements on the lower Eastern Shore until after 1660. They were 
few in number, however. 

2. Page 18. Lmiguage of the Natiticokes. — Not far from the 
mouth of the Pocomoke are large banks of shells, marking the 
site of an old Indian village, and now called " Shell Town." 
Here Smith probably traded for the "puddle water." In all that 
country good drinking-water is very rare. 

The Eastern-Shore Indians have faded from the earth, and so, 
I thought, had their language too. Smith speaks of them as "of 
another language from the rest, and very rude." Heckewelder de- 
scribes them as speaking a dialect of the Lenni Lenapes. Acci- 
dentally I came upon a manuscript in possession of the American 
Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, a transcript of which is now 
before me, and from which I take the words used in my book. I 

511 



512 APPENDIX. 

cannot express my delight in recovering the dead language of a 
dead tribe — sounds once familiar to Makemie's ear. 

The manuscript has the following heading : 

"Taken at Locust-Neck Town, the remains of an ancient Indian 
town on Goose Creek, Choptank River, in Dorset, Maryland. 
Five wigwams and a board house with a glass window now 
form the whole that is left of the Nanticoke tribe, which was a 
hundred years since numerous and powerful. Many of them 
migrated to the Six Nations within my memory about twenty-five 
years since. These words were principally taken from a squaw 
called Mrs. Mulberry, the widow of the late chief, who was called 
Colonel — no king having succeeded their famous Winikako who 
died seventy-five years since. 

" Taken by Mr. Murray of Maryland. See his letter of Sept. 
18, 1792." 

The manuscript is among the papers contributed to the so- 
ciety's collection by Thomas Jefferson. Mrs. Mulberry's true 
name was Weningominsk. 

3. Page 19. The Indiajis. — Captain Smith says : " The peo- 
ple of these rivers are of little stature." It is a singular fact that 
the inhabitants of the peninsula are now noticeably of smaller 
stature and features than the average elsewhere. 

4. Page 20. Colonel William Stevens. — About a mile above the 
town of Rehoboth is the farm, the old cellar and the foundation 
of the house still visible. There is the tombstone of Stevens, 
yet legible, lying fiat on the ground. 

We learn the nativity and parentage of Colonel Stevens from 
the following memorandum on the Somerset records : 

" Richard Stevens, brother to WiUiam Stevens of Somerset 
county in ye Province of Maryland, was youngest son of John 
Stevens of Lebourn in ye Parish of Buckingham in England, 
died at the house of his brother William aforesaid, ye 22d day 
of April 1667, and was buried at his plantation called Rehoboth 
in ye county and province aforesaid in America ye 25th day of 
April 1667." 

This record enables us to trace the origin of the name of Buck- 
ingham church. 

There was another William Stevens contemporaneously in Ac- 
comack. 

5. Page 23. Governor Stone. — See Bozman's History of Mary- 
land (ii. 32), where the pamphlet published in 1655 by the Cath- 
olic Langford calls Stone "a zealous Protestant and generally 
known to have been always zealously affected to the Parhament." 



APPENDIX. 513 

Says Bozman (ii. 354) : " There are strong grounds to believe 
that the majority of the members of this Assembly of 1649 were 
Protestants, if not Protestants of the Puritanic order." 

6. Page 24. The majority Protestants. — See Rev. Ethan Allen's 
Maryland Toleration ; also McMahon's History of Maryland. 
Of reputable historians, only the Catholic McSherry would have 
it otherwise. 

7. Page 26. Rev. Matthew Hill. — My description of Hill is 
almost verbatim from Calamy's Nonconformists' Memorial. See 
also Neill's Terra Maries, p. 139. I am unable to discover the 
"new troubles" which caused him to leave — probably the agita- 
tions under Coode. 

8. Page 27. The grand jurors. — Somerset records, 1672. The 
foreman, David Brown, afterward bequeathed five hundred pounds 
to Glasgow University. The other jurors were Robert Hart, 
Marcum Thomas, Thomas Covington, James Dashiell, Benja- 
min Cottman, Levin Denwood, Richard Ackworth, John Dorman, 
William Woodgate, Richard Davis, Alexander Draper, Peter 
Dorotey, Robert Houlston, Thomas Davis, Thomas Roe, Cor- 
nelius Johnson, John Bozman, John WilHams, Richard TuU 
and Philip Askew. 

I have been inclined to claim Mr. Maddux for a Presbyterian, 
because of the tradition that the Eastern-Shore family of that 
name were originally of our Church. The name is still fre- 
quently pronounced as spelled in the record. In the same year 
(1672, December 30) the records show the marriage of John 
Bishop and Mary Bowen by Robert Maddux, clerk. The latter 
was the title for minister. 

9. Page 29. Naomi. — In Accomack records, in an affidavit taken 
December 3, 1717, Naomi's age is given at " 49 years or there- 
abouts." Hence we adopt 1668 as date of birth. 

10. Page 35. Hominy. — Not thus in the Nanticoke dialect, how- 
ever, so far as I know. Roger Williams gives this as the Indian 
term in the North. 

11. Page 36. Scotch martyrs. — An old volume, out of print, enti- 
tled A Cloud of Witnesses for the Royal Prerogatives of Jesus 
Christ. See also Wodrow, passim. 

12. Page 39. r^/<?ra/z^;z.— McMahon, p. 215 ; more fully, NeilVs 
Founders of Maryland, p. 148, etc. Also Neill's Terra Maries for 
following facts. 

13. Page 41. John Coode.— Bishop Haxvks's Ecclesiastical Con- 
tributions (ii. 63) : "When we next meet with Coode, he is in holy 
orders, offering a striking illustration of the facility with which, in 

33 



SH APPENDIX, 

that day, vice that deserved a prison could figure in these unfor- 
tunate colonies clad in the robes of a priest." 

14. Page 42. A %v Oman indicted. — Accomack records, December 
16, 1678, Mr. Anderson is named as "intermarrying with Mary, 
Widow of John Renny." In March, 1669, Mrs. Mary Renny, 
wife of John Renny, was indicted for " execrable cursing, blas- 
phemies and wicked speaking." I find no record of prosecution 
following. Perhaps it was, after all, only some harsh words 
against the Established Church ! 

These records supply a full inventory of her wardrobe in 1703. 

15. Page 46. Traduced clergymen. — Records of Northamp- 
ton and Accomack — among the oldest in America. See also 
Bishop Meade's Old Churches and Families of Virginia ; also 
Neill's Colonial Clergy, The court records furnish interesting 
data as to history, customs and manners. 

16. Page 49. The lad Makemie. — Reid's Histojy of the Pres- 
byterian Church in Ireland, ii, 266, etc. ; for next paragraph, 
Reid, ii. 303; for description of ancient Ramelton, Reid, i. 117. 

17. Makeinie before Presbytery. — Reid, ii. 342: "In the year 
1675 he was enrolled as student in the University of Glasgow as 
Franciscus Makemius, Scoto-Hyburnus." See Wodrow and 
Hetherington for cruelties of those years in Scotland ; Reid, ii. 
ch. xviii., for history in Ireland. 

In answer to questions addressed to Professor Thomas With- 
erow of Magee College, Derry, author of Historical and Literary 
Memoirs of the Presbyterian Church in h'ela7id\ and other valu- 
able works, I received the following reply under date of May 28, 
1880: 

"Dear Sir: In answer to your letter of nth inst. I beg to 
say — 

"i. That the 'Meeting,' or Presbytery, of Laggan in 168 1 
covered a district which, if we leave out the Presbytery of Lim- 
ivady, was about coextensive with all the Presbyteries now com- 
prised in the modern Synod of Derry and Omagh — viz., Derry, 
Glendermot, Letterkenny, Strabane, Raphoe, Omagh and Donegal. 

" 2. The following were the ministers of Laggan in 1680 — viz.: 
Robert Rule, Derry ; John Hart, Taboyn ; William Liston, Letter- 
kenny ; Robert Campbell, Ray ; James Alexander, Raphoe ; John 
Hamilton, Donagheady ; Robert Craighead, Donaughmore ; 
Thomas Drummond, Ramelton ; David Brown, Urney ; James 
Tailzior, or Taylor, Glendermot; Robert Wilson, Strabane; 
William Trail, Lifford ; William Hampton, Burt ; Adam White, 
Ardstraw ; Samuel Haliday, Omagh ; William Henry, Drum- 



APPENDIX. 515 

holm; John Rowatt, Cappaph ; Thomas Wilson, Killebegs ; 
Fannet congregation, vacant; Enniskillen, vacant. 

" 3. I know nothing of Makemie's descent or the true spelling 
of the name. It is understood that the Presbyterians of the 
North-west were all from Scotland, with few exceptions. 

" 4. Tradition points out the spot on the shore of Lough Swilly 
where his father's house once stood. 

"5. The notices of Makemie on the minute-book are as fol- 
lows : 

" Page 223 : ' St. Johnstown, Jan. 28, 1680. — Mr. Francis 
Mckemy comes with a recommendation from Mr. Thomas 
Drummond to the Meeting. Messrs. John Hart and Robert 
Rule are appointed to speak privately to him and inquire into 
his reading and progress in his studies.' 

" Page 232. • St. JoJmstowti, May ig, 1680.— Mr. Francis Mcke- 
my presents a petition from the people of Ramullan in prosecu- 
tion of their former call to James Tailzior and promise ^30 of 
yearly maintenance, and are content that his only preaching 
place be at Ramullan and say that the people of Clondevaddock 
have consented to this.' 

" Page 234, same meeting : • The Meeting appoint Messrs 
Robt. Campbell and William Listen to speak to Francis Mckemy 
and Alex. Marshall, and to inquire about their studies and en- 
courage them in these and to make report to the Meeting.' 

" Page 236 : ' St. Johnstowii, July 7, 1680. — Mr. Francis 
M. kemy and Alex. Marshall are recommended to the breth- 
ren that are to be at Raigh communion, to speak to them about 
their studies and knowledge in the body of Divinity ; and also 
the brethren are to call them to account for afterward from time 
to time until they be satisfied and clear to present this bus- 
iness to the Meeting.' 

" Page 238 : ' Mr. Francis Mackemy presents a petition from 
Killigarvan in prosecution of their call to Mr. James Tailzior.' 

"Page 240: 'St. Johnstown, August 11, 1680.— My. Francis 
Mackemy from Ramullan likewise desires an answer to that 
people's petition about Mr. James Tailzior.' 

"Page 241 : ' Messrs. John Heart and Robt. Campbell to take 
some inspection and oversight of Mr. Alex. Marshall's studies ; 
and Messrs. Thomas Drummond and Wm. Liston to do the like 
to Mr. Francis M. Kemy. 

" Page 243 : ' Sept. 2g, 1680.— Mr. Wm. Liston reports that 
Mr. Francis Mackemy desires some more time and that he is 
diligent, &c.' 



5l6 APPENDIX. 

"Page 247: 'Decern. 2g, 16S0. — Col. Stevens from Maryland 
beside Virginia his desire of a godly minister is presented to us, 
The Meeting will consider it seriously and do what they can in 
it. Mr. John Heart is to write to Mr. William Keyes about this, 
and Mr. Robt. Rule to the M'gs of Route and Tyrone, and Mr. 
William Trail to the Meetings of Down and Antrim.' 

"Page 253: 'St. Johnstown, March g, 1681. — Upon the good 
report we get of Mr. Francis Mackemy and Mr. Alex. Marshall 
the Mg think fit to put them upon trials in order to their being 
licentiated to preach, and they name i Tim. i : 5 to Francis 
Mackemy and Titus 2 : 11 to Mr. Alex. Marshall as texts for 
their private homilies.' 

"Page 255: 'St. Johnstown, April 20, 1681. — Messrs. Alex. 
Marshall upon Tit. 2 : 11, 12, and Francis Mackemy upon i Tim. 
I : 5, delivered their private homilies and were approved. The 
Mg appoint Math, xi : 28 to Mr. Francis Mackemy and Romans 
viii : 6 to Mr. Alex. Marshall as texts for their private homilies at 
the next Meeting ; and also the common-heads De Antichristo to 
Mr. Francis Mackemy and De regimine Ecclesiae contra Eras- 
tianos to Mr. Alex. Marshall.' 

"Page 257: 'St. Johnsiowji, May 23, 1681. — Mr. Francis Mac- 
kemy delivered his private homily on Mat. xi : 20, and is ap- 
proven. Both he and Mr. Alex. Marshall are to give in their 
theses (which they do), and at the next Meeting they are to have 
their common-head and are to sustain their disputes.' 

" This is the last entry in the minutes of Laggan regarding 
Makemie. A few weeks after, four ministers of the Presbytery 
were sent to jail for keeping a fast. Whether they met as a 
Presbytery afterward, I cannot say ; but if they did, no minutes 
are preserved from July, 1681, till after 1689. ^^^ ^^^^ reason 
nothing is known of the date of Makemie's ordination or the 
circumstances under which he left the country. In the pre- 
ceding extracts you have all the original information in re- 
gard to him now known to exist in Ireland. 

" I remain, dear sir, very faithfully yours, etc." 

18. Page 59. Geoj'ge Fox. — Extract from Fox's journal (pp. 
461, etc.), giving his work in Somerset county : " The 12th day 
of the I2th month (1672) we set forward in our boat, and, travel- 
ing by night, we ran our boat on ground in a creek near Monaco 
River. There we were fain to stay till morning, till the tide came 
and lifted her off. In the meantime, sitting in an open boat and 
the weather being bitter cold, some had like to have lost the use 
of their hands, they were so frozen and benumbed. In the 



APPENDIX. 517 

morning, when the tide set the boat afloat, we got to land and 
made a good fire, at which we warmed ourselves well, and then 
took boat and passed about ten miles farther to a Friend's house, 
where next day we had a precious meeting, at which some of the 
place were. I went after meeting to a Friend's about four miles 
off, at the head of Anamessy River where, the day following, 
the Judge of the county and a Justice with him came to me and 
were very loving and much satisfied with Friends' order. 

" The next day we had a large meeting at the Justice's in his 
barn, for his house could not hold the company. There were 
several of the great folks of that country, and among the rest an 
opposer ; but all was preserved quiet and well. A precious meet- 
ing it was ; the people were much affected with the truth, blessed 
be the Lord ! We went the next day to see Capt. Colbourn, a 
Justice of the Peace, and there we had some service. Then, re- 
turning again, we had a very glorious meeting at the Justice's 
where we met before, to which came many people of account in 
the world, magistrates, officers and others. It was a large meet- 
ing, and the power of God was much felt ; so th-at the people 
were generally well satisfied and taken with the truth ; and, 
there being several merchants and masters of ships from New 
England, the truth was spread abroad, blessed be the Lord ! 

"A day or two after, we traveled about sixteen miles through 
the woods and bogs heading Anamessy River and Amaroco 
River, part of which we went over in a canoe, and came to Man- 
aoke to a Friendly woman's house, where on the 24th of the 12th 
month we had a large meeting in a barn. . . . After this we 
passed over the river Wiccacomaco and through many bad 
watery swamps and marshy way and came to James Jones', a 
Friend and a Justice of the Peace, where we had a large and 
very glorious meeting, praised be the Lord God ! Then, passing 
over the water in a boat, we took horse and traveled about twenty- 
four miles tlirough woods and troublesome swamps, and came to 
another Justice's house, where we had a very large meeting, 
much people and many of considerable account being present ; 
and the living presence of the Lord was amongst us, praised for 
ever be his holy name ! 

" This was the 3d of the first month 1673. The 5th of the 
same we had another hving and heavenly meeting, at which- 
divers Justices with their wives and many others were ; amongst 
whom we had very good service for the Lord, blessed be his 
holy name ! At this meeting was a woman that lived at Ana- 
messy, who had been m.any years in trouble of mind, and some- 



5l8 APPENDIX. 

times would sit moping near two months together, or hardly 
speak or mind anything. When I heard of her, I was moved 
of the Lord to go to her and tell her, That salvation was come to 
her house. After I had spoken of the word of life to her and 
entreated the Lord for her, she mended, went up and down with 
us to meetings, and is since well, blessed be the Lord ! 

"We left Anamessy the 7th of the First month, and, passing 
by water about fifty miles, came to a Friendly woman's house at 
Hungar River. We had very rough weather and were in great 
danger, for the boat had liked to have been turned over. But 
through the good providence of God we got safely thither, praised 
be his name ! At this place we had a meeting. Amongst the peo- 
ple were two Papists, a man and woman ; the man was very 
tender, and the woman confessed to the truth. I had no Friend 
with me but Robert Widders, the rest having dispersed them- 
selves into several parts of the country in the service of the 
truth. 

*' So soon as the wind would permit, we passed from hence 
about forty miles by water, rowing most part of the way, and 
came to the head of little Choptank to Dr. Winsmore's, a Jus- 
tice of the Peace lately convinced. Here we met with some 
Friends with whom we staid awhile, and then went on by land 
and water, and had a large meeting abroad, for the house we 
were at could not receive the people. Divers of the magistrates 
and their wives were present ; and a good meeting it was, blessed 
be the Lord who is making his name known in that wilderness 
country ! 

"We went from thence to William Stephens', where we met 
with those friends that had been traveling in other parts ; and 
were much refreshed in the Lord together when we imparted to 
each other the good service we had in the Lord's work, and the 
prosperity and spreading of the truth in the places where we 
traveled. John Cartwright and another Friend had been at Vir- 
ginia, where were great desires in people after the truth ; and, 
being now returned, they staid a Httle with us here and then set 
forward to Rarbadoes. Before we left this place we had a glori- 
ous meeting, at which were many people ; amongst others the 
Judge of that country, three Justices of the Peace, and the High 
Sheriff and their wives. Of the Indians was one called their 
Emperor, an Indian King, and their speaker, who sat very atten- 
tive and carried themselves very lovingly. An establishing set- 
tling meeting it was. This was the 23d day of the First month. 

"The 24th we went by water ten miles to the Indian town 



APPENDIX. 519 

where this Emperor dwelt, whom I had acquainted before with 
my coming and desired to get their kings and councils together. 
In the morning the Emperor came himself and led me to the 
town ; where they were generally come together, their speaker 
and other officers being with them, and the old Empress sat 
among them. They sat very grave and sober, and were all very 
attentive beyond many called Christians. I had some with us 
that could interpret to them. We had a very good meeting with 
them, and of considerable service it was ; for it gave them a 
good esteem of truth and Friends, blessed be God ! 

"After this we had meetings in several parts of that country; 
one at William Stephens', which was a general meeting once a 
month ; another at Tredhaven Creek, another at Wye, another 
at Reconow Creek, and another at Thomas Taylor's in the Island 
of Kent. Most of these were large, there being many people at 
them, and divers of the most considerable in the world's account. 
The Lord's power and living presence was with us and plenteously 
manifested among the people, by which their hearts were ten- 
dered and opened to receive the truth which had a good savor 
amongst them, blessed be the Lord God over all for ever !" 

On the Somerset records of 1672 is an order for building a 
bridge over Dividing Creek for " a convenient road to the great- 
est seat of the Indians." Hence I prefer to locate the old em- 
peror's town up the river, above Colonel Stevens's. Perhaps, 
however, it was at Shell Town. 

19. Page 69. Commissioners of Somerset comity. — " CiEcilius, 
Absolute Lord and Proprietary of the Provinces of Maryland and 
Avalon, Lord Baron of Baltimore, &c.. To Stephen Horsey, 
Wilham Stevens, William Thorne, James Jones, George John- 
son, John Winder, Henry Boston and John White, Gent., 
greeting. 

" Know ye that we, for the ease and benefit of the people of 
our Province and more exact administration of justice, have 
erected, and do by these presents erect, all that tract of land 
within our Province of Maryland, bounded on the South with a 
hne drawn East from Watkin's Point (being the North Point of 
that bay into which the river Wighco, formerly called Wighcoco- 
moco, afterwards Pocomoke, and now Wighcocomoco again, doth 
fall exclusively) to the ocean-sea on the East, Nanticoke river on 
the North, and the sound of Chesapeake bay on the West, into 
a county by the name of Somerset county in honor of our dear 
sister the Lady Mary Somerset ; and for the great trust and con- 
fidence we have in your fidelitys, circumspections, providences 



520 APPENDIX. 

and wisdoms, have constituted, ordained and appointed, and do 
by these presents constitute, ordain and appoint, you, Stephen 
Horsey, Wilham Stevens, William Thorne, James Jones, John 
Winder, Henry Boston, George Johnson, and John White, Gent., 
Commissioners jointly and severally to keep the peace in Somer- 
set county aforesaid ; and to keep and cause to be kept all laws 
and orders made for the good and conservation of the peace, and 
for the quiet rule and government of the people, in all and every 
the articles of the same, and to chastise and punish all persons 
offending the form of any the laws and orders of this our Prov- 
ince, or any of them in Somerset county aforesaid, as according 
to the form of these laws and orders shall be fit to be done. 

" We have also constituted and ordained you and every four 
or more of you, with you the said Stephen Horsey, William 
Stevens and William Thorne (unless some one of our Council 
be present) are always to be our Commissioners to inquire by the 
oath of good and lawful men of your county aforesaid, as to all 
manner of felonies, witchcrafts, enchantments, sorceries, magic 
arts, trespasses, forestallings, ingrossings and extortions whatever 
of all and singular other misdeeds and offenses of which Justices 
of the Peace in England may or ought lawfully to inquire, by 
whomsoever done or perpetrated or which hereafter shall happen 
to be done or perpetrated in the county against the laws and 
orders of this our Province ; provided you proceed not in any of 
the cases aforesaid to take life or members, but that in every 
such case you send your prisoners with their indictments and the 
whole matter before you to our Justices of our Provincial Court 
next to be holden of this our Province, whensoever or whereso- 
ever to be holden, there to be tried. 

"And further we do hereby authorize you to issue writs, pro- 
cesses, arrests, and attachments, to hold plea of, hear and deter- 
mine and, after judgment, execution to award in all causes civil 
whatever, in account real or personal, where the thing in action 
doth not exceed the value of 3000 lbs. weight of tobacco, accord- 
ing to the laws, orders and reasonable customs made and used 
in this our Province of Maryland. In which causes civil so to be 
tried, we do constitute, ordain and appoint you the said Stephen 
Horsey, William Stevens and William Thorne, or either of you, 
to be our Judge as aforesaid, unless some one of our Council be 
there in Court. 

"And therefore we command you that you diligently intend the 
keeping of the peace, laws and orders, and all and singular other 
the premises, and at certain days and places which you or any 



APPENDIX, 521 

such four or more of you as is aforesaid, shall in that behalf ap- 
point, ye make inquiries upon the premises and perform and fulfill 
the same in form aforesaid ; doing therein that which "in justice 
pertaineth, according to the laws, orders and reasonable customs 
of this our Province, saving to us the amercements and other 
things to us belonging. 

"And we command the Sheriff of your said county for the 
time being, by virtue of these presents, that at certain days and 
places which you or any such four or more of you as aforesaid, 
agreeth and make known to him, to give his attendance on you 
and, if need require, to cause to come before you or any such 
four or more of you aforesaid, such and as many good and lawful 
men of your county, by whom the truth in the premises may be 
the better known and inquired of. 

"And lastly we have appointed Edmund Beauchamp Clerk and 
Keeper of the Records of proceedings in this your County Court ; 
and therefore you shall cause to be brought before you at the said 
days and places the writs, precepts, process and indictments, to 
your Court and jurisdiction belonging, that the same may be in- 
spected and by due course determined as aforesaid. 

" Given under the great seal of this Province of Maryland, the 
two and twentieth of August, in the five and thirtieth year of our 
dominion over the said Province, and in the year of our Lord 
one thousand six hundred and sixty-six : Whereof our dear son 
Charles Calvert Esq. is our Lieutenant General, Chief Governor 
and Chief Justice of our said Province of Maryland." 

From Somerset records, 1666. Spelling modernized. 

20. Page 80. — Mackemie s appearance. — In her will Make- 
mie's daughter, Madam Anne Holden, leaves the portraits of her 
father and mother to Samuel Wilson. Dr. Balch came into pos- 
session of these valuable memorials, and they were afterward 
burned with his house and library. Irreparable loss ! Will not 
the owners of such treasures hasten to deposit them in the fire- 
proof rooms of the Presbyterian Historical Society ? My de- 
scriptions of the personal appearance of Makemie are drawn 
from the memories of the picture by a daughter of Dr. Balch 
still living. 

21. Page 89. JoJmny-cake. — We had thought that the word 
" jonakin " belonged peculiarly to the Southern slave-vocabulary, 
but here we find it becoming classic in Boston two centuries ago. 
The extract is taken from the prologue to Thomson's long poem 
on King Philip's War, called " New England's Crisis." 

22. Page 92. The Rkhardsons.—\ do not know who these 



522 APPENDIX. 

Richardsons were. David is found on the Somerset records 
marrying a couple in 1680, and Robert in 1681. The clerk may- 
have made two of but one. My only reason for speaking of 
them as Episcopalians is because there was a clergyman by that 
name preaching in Northampton previous to 1676 who was dis- 
placed on account of not being regularly ordained (Meade's Old 
Churches y i. 258). Perhaps he passed up into Maryland. 

23. Page 94. Virginia bells. — So says the humorous author of 
the " Sot-Weed Factor." 

24. Page 100. The Indians. — The old patent mentions the In- 
dian field. The writer exercises some license in locating these 
particular Indians here. The Somerset records mention them 
by name as patenting one thousand acres somewhere on the sea- 
board in 171 3 and selling apart of the tract to John Burton in 
1736. It was called "Auquexeme." 

25. Page loi. Burley. — Where Berlin now stands, and the 
present Presbyterian church ; the site also of the old cemetery 
where stood the former brick church, and where Charles Ten- 
nent and many of the fathers are sleeping, the hill on which the 
explorers are singing. Undoubtedly, "Burley "is the original 
for " Berlin." 

26. Page 102. Buckitigham. — I fail to find any clue to the 
date of the organization of the ancient Buckingham church. At 
the point described in the text, near Poplar Town, it was first 
built, on the Buckingham tract, and thence deriving its name, 
thus pointing back to the native shire of Judge Stevens. Some 
are inclined to claim that this was the meeting-house described 
in the sheriff's report of 1697 as "on the road going up along 
the seaside." 

27. Page 106. From Patapsco to Annapolis. — An anachronism, 
but I cannot deny myself the pleasure of quoting now and then 
from this old Maryland poem, published in volume ii. of The 
Genile?na?i s Alagazine, and called "A Journey from Patapsco in 
Maryland to Annapohs, April 4th, 1730" (Neill's Terra Maria, 

259)- 

28. Page III. Letter to Increase Mather. — This autograph 
letter addressed to Increase Mather of Boston under date of 
" EHzabeth River, Va., 22 July, 1684," is still preserved in the 
library of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and, with two 
others to be quoted hereafter, determines the true spelling of his 
name — Makemie. 

29. Page 113. William I rail. — Here I touch upon facts hith- 
erto undreamed of in our histories. 



APPENDIX 523 

My researches in tracing Mr. Trail were exciting and protracted. 
In notes taken on Somerset records of 1689 I had jotted down 
the name of Trail for the sake of contemporaneous history, sup- 
posing him to be a Church-of-England clergyman, and thought 
no more of it until, while afterward reading Reid's account of 
the persecutions of the minister of Lifford, it occurred to me that 
I had the name somewhere among my notes. Again searching 
the records, I found several items about the Maryland Trail as 
hereafter given — among others, his purchase of a farm on the 
Pocomoke in 1686. 

At once I wrote to Professor Witherow of Derry for whatever 
he knew of Trail. Among other facts was his dropping out of 
European history duri?ig these very years of his apparent sojourn 
in Maryland. 

Dr. Killen, the continuator of Reid, wrote me : " It appears to 
me that you are quite correct in your views with respect to the 
Rev. William Trail. After leaving Lifford he seems to have 
made his way to America. On hearing of the success of the 
English Revolution and of the re-establishment of Presbytery in 
Scotland, he returned there and became a parish minister in his 
native country." 

After supplying me other interesting facts about William Trail, 
hereafter embodied in my narrative. Dr. Robert Anderson of 
Glasgow tells me : "After this [his release] he went to Maryland 
and returned at the Revolution." 

The identification is complete. 

Finally, my friend Mr. W. H. Brown of Princess Anne, Mary- 
land, who has assisted me so materially, put the history back to 
the very year in which the Presbytery of Laggan signified their 
purpose to emigrate, discovering the record of marriage per- 
formed by Trail in 1684, as given in the text. 

Hitherto the first historical notice of Samuel Davis was of his 
living at Lewes in 1692 — evidently a mistake as to locality. I 
found the Somerset records mentioning him frequently prior to 
that : the first mention a marriage solemnized by him during this 
same year of 1684. We know nothing of the antecedents of 
Davis. Dr. Hodge thinks he was from Ireland. 

I have no authority for the arrival of the three ministers on the 
same ship. The first mention I could find of Thomas Wilson on 
Somerset records is 1691, when he had evidently been in the 
country some while. I put his arrival in 1684 because of the ex- 
pressed purpose of his Presbytery at that date. Professor Witherow 
gives me the following items from the minutes of Laggan : 



524 APPENDIX. 

" 1674, August 17 : Mr. Henry of Donegal instructed by Presb. 
to name Mr. Wilson to the Killybegs people as suitable. 1676, 
January 1 1 : Thomas Wilson appointed to supply Killybegs. 
August 19 : Credentials received in his favor from Route Pres- 
bytery. 1677, October 10: Killybegs promises to support Mr. 
Wilson better. 1678, July 3: Wilson is asked to attend Presby- 
tery and give an account of his ministry, as the people cannot be 
induced to come to tell how they supported him, November 13 : 
Killybegs has paid him only twelve pounds a year for last two 
years. No prospect for improvement. 1681 : No word of his 
removal from Killybegs up to the point in this year where the 
minutes break off (July 13). When the minutes resume, in 1691, 
no word of Killybegs and Wilson. I suspect he was starved out. 
Presbyterianism has now no adherents in Killybegs, on the west- 
ern coast of Donegal." 

30. Page 125. T/ig Speiices. — Spence's Letters, p. 80. In 
Somerset records 1691 is a deposition giving the age of Adam 
Spence then as twenty-nine. The. records show a David and an 
Anne Spence living in Wicomico Hundred in 1666, the year the 
county was organized, and children born to them as follows ; 
David, 1666; Alexander, 1669; John, 1672 ; James, 1675 ; Anne, 
1677. 

In Scotland, Samuel Spence is heavily fined in 1680 (Wodrow, 
iii. 179). Wilham Spence, secretary to the duke of Argyle, is 
barbarously tortured in 1684 and 1685 (Wodrow, iv. 95). 

31. Page 133. The Counties. — St. Mary's, a settlement rather 
than a county, but left a county by carving others out of it : 
Anne Arundel, organized 1650; Calvert, 1654; Charles, 1658; 
Baltimore, about 1659; Kent settled like St. Mary's, but left a 
county by forming others around it: Talbot, 1651 ; Somerset, 
1666; Dorchester, about 1669; Cecil, 1674. 

32. Page 137. Trail's purchase. — Somerset records. Liber M. 
A., fol. 815. After careful inquiry, I think it is the farm now 
known as Riggins's Landing. 

33. Page 143. The mysterious calls. — This mystery in the life 
of Mr. Trail has been furnished me by Rev. Robert Anderson, 
D. D., Glasgow, Scotland : part of the superstition of the times. 

34. Page 163. Tomb of William Stevens. — The ancient tomb 
is still there and legible, flat upon the ground, in the orchard of 
the old Stevens plantation, about a mile above Rehoboth. The 
brick foundation of the family mansion is seen some thirty to 
fifty yards from the grave. 

35. Page 171. Makemie's return to the Eastern Shore. — Hence, 



APPENDIX. 525 

but without direct authority, I date Mr. Makemie's return to the 
Shore at about this time. Evidently, from the first record-notice 
of him in 1690, he had been back some while. The probability 
of Mr. Trail's leaving may also have had something to do with 
Makemie's return. 

36. Page 172. James and Rojuaiiisiyi. — This is true. In a cap- 
tured letter, now in the Royal Irish Academy, written this very 
year (1689) to the pope, James says : " The only source of all 
these rebellions against us is that we embraced the Catholic 
faith, and do not disown ; but that to spread the same, not only 
in our three kingdoms, but over all the dispersed colonies of our 
subjects in America, was our determination. 

37. Page 173. For character of Virginia clergymen, see 
Bishop Meade's Old Chttrches, i. 162, and so forth ; Bishop 
Hawks's Maryland Co7itribiitions , p, 63 ; Anderson's History of 
the Colonial Chtirch — all Episcopal authorities. 

38. Page 176. Ninian Beall. — McMahon (p. 237) gives a list 
of leaders signing terms of surrender at Matapony on the part 
of the Associators : John Coode, Henry Jowles, John Campbell, 
Kenelm Cheseldine, Ninia7i Beall, Humphrey Warring, Nehe- 
miah Blakiston, John Turlinge, Richard Clouds. 

39. Page 177. Annie Laurie. — Composed by Douglas of Fin- 
land in honor of Miss Laurie of Maxwelton in 1688, or near that 
date. 

40. Page 185. The regicide What ley. — I put this mystery in 
my story of the times because of a singular tradition yet prevail- 
ing and written out by a descendant of Mr. Wale as long ago as 
1769. The document is as follows : 

"As most men wish to know something of their ancestors, and 
as I have from authentic documents and direct tradition a number 
of facts relative to my ancestor Edward Whalley, otherwise Ed- 
ward Middleton, ye regicide, I desire to set down here ye facts 
concerning his life and death in Maryland. 

" Edward Whaley was born in Northampton, England, about 
161 5, and married Elizabeth Middleton ; soon after he joined ye 
rebellion under Oliver Cromwell, and was one of ye judges yt 
condemned king Charles ye first, and at ye restoration of Charles 
ye second (anno domini 1660) he fled to America with many of 
his misguided companions ; he went to Connecticut, and there 
lived in concealment until ye reward offered by ye Crown of 
England made his residence amongst ye Yankees unsafe, and 
he then came to Virginia in 1681, where two of his wife's brothers 
met him with his family. He then traveled up to ye province of 



526 APPENDIX. 

Maryland, and settled first at ye mouth of ye Pocomoke river, but 
finding yt too public a place, he came to Sinepuxent, a neck of 
land open to ye Atlantic Ocean, where Colonel Stephen was sur- 
veying, and bought a tract of land from him and called it Gene- 
zar it contained 22 hundred acres, south end of Sinepuxent, and 
made a settlement on ye Southern extremity and called it South 
Point, to which place he brought his family about 1687 iri ye 
name of Edward Middleton ; his own name he made not public 
until after this date, after ye revolution in England (in ye yeare 
of our Lord 1688) when he let his name be seen in public papers 
and had ye lands patented in his own name. He brought with 
him from ye province of Virginia six children, three Sonnes and 
three daughters. He had one daughter, ye wife of his companion 
Goffe, in England. His sonnes were John, Nathaniel and Ehas, 
his daughters were Rachel, Elizabeth and Bridget. Nathaniel 
Whaley married and settled in Maryland ; John Whaley went to 
ye province of Delaware and settled, and his family afterward 
removed away from ye province to ye south. Elias Whaley mar- 
ried Sarah Peel, daughter of Col. Francis Peel, and died leaving 
one darter, Leah Whaley, and she married Thomas Robins, 2nd 
of ye name, and died leaving one son, Thomas Robins, 3rd of 
ye name, ye deponent. Edward Whaley's darters all married. 
Rachel married Mr. Reckliffe, Elizabeth married William Tur- 
vale, and Bridgit married Ebenezer Franklin. Col. Whaley 
lived to an advanced age and was blind for many years before 
his death; he died in ye yeare of our Lord 1718, aet. 103 years. 
His will and yt of his sonne Elias we have in ye records. His 
descendants are living here in ye province but hold to ye estab- 
lished church, for ye which they ever pray ye divine protection. 
So died Whalley the regicide. Had he received yt due to him, 
he would have suffered and died on ye scaffold as did many of 
his traitorous companions. Vivet rex ! 

" Thomas Robins, 
" 3rd of ye name. 

"July 8th, in the year of our Lord, 1769." 

This same tradition is in the Whalley family spoken of as re- 
moving to the South, now living in South Carohna, and until 
recently without communication with the Maryland branch. 

Of the regicide Whalley, who was in New England with Goffe 
and Dixwell, no record of death remains, and the last authentic 
mention of him there is in a letter of Goffe's in 1674: " I do not 
apprehend the near approach of his death more now (save only 
he is much older) than I did two years ago." 



APPENDIX. 527 

President Stiles of Yale, writing in 1794, says : " It has always 
been in public fame that of the two judges at Hadley one died 
there and was buried in the minister's cellar, but which this was 
was never said ; and that the other, to escape Randolph's dan- 
gerous researches, disappeared and was supposed to be gone off 
to the West toward Virginia, and was heard of no more. This I 
perfectly remember to have been the current story in my youth." 
Again he says: "The story of one going off to the westward 
after the other's death at Hadley is spread all over New Eng- 
land, and is as trite at Rhode Island at this day (1794) as at New 
Haven and Hadley." 

In New Haven, near the grave of the third regicide, Dixwell, 
are two stones, one marked " M. G." and supposed to mean 
"William Goffe," the other marked " E. W." and supposed to 
mean " Edward Whalley." But by strong arguments this tomb 
has been claimed for others. A Maryland tradition asserts that 
it was erected to prevent further pursuit. 

The following items, gathered by me from the Somerset records, 
prove the Robins paper wrong in several respects. 

(i) A record of marriages and births: "Edward Wale and 
Elizabeth Ratcliffe were married at Pocomoke by Mr. William 
Stevens, one of His Lordship's Justices of the Peace for ye 
county, 29th of January, 1669. John, son of Edward and Eliza- 
beth his wife, was born at Pocomoke, Dec. 2nd 1669; Sarah, at 
Pocomoke, Feb. 4th 1671 ; Charles at Pocomoke, Jan. 26th 1674; 
Elizabeth at Pocomoke August 25th 1677 ; George at Sinepuxan 
Feb. 20th 1679; Bridget, same place, Oct. 8th 1681 ; WiUiam, 
same place, Decem. 26th 1683 ; Nathaniel, same place, April 8th 
1686; Rachel, same place, Novem. 15th 1688; Ehas, same 
place, June 28th 1691." 

(2) Parcel of land north of the Pocomoke, called Auquintica, 
patented by George Wale in 1658 ; another part in 1668, and 
conveyed to Edward Wale, and by him to Thomas Newbold in 
1678. 

(3) Tract of land " near ye heads of ye branches of Assateague 
river" patented by Edward Wale and Charles Ratchff in 1679. 
The Genezer tract the same year. 

(4) Deed in 1680 of tract called "Assateague Fields," patented 
by Edward Wale in 1678. 

(5) I find Edward Wale on the grand jury in 1696, when the 
regicide would have been over eighty years old. 

This Edward Wale was certainly in the county as early as 
1669; date of marriage five years before the last definite mention 



528 APPENDIX. 

of the regicide in New England — 1674. The other dates and 
items prove that he could not have been Major-General Whalley, 
as claimed by the Robins paper. But may not all these interest- 
ing facts, dates and traditions be harmonized by the hypothesis 
that Edward Wale of the county records and of the Robins 
paper was the son of the regicide, and that his father joined him 
in Sinepuxent ? 

In his Memoirs of the House of Cromwell, Mark Noble says 
that, besides Mrs. Frances Goffe and a son John, there were born 
to the regicide other children, of whose career nothing is known. 
An authority quoted by E. D, Neill gives the names of the other 
children as Mary, Judith, Henry and Edward, the latter two by 
his second wife, Mary Middleton. Mrs. Goffe writes to her hus- 
band in 1662 : " My brother John is gone across the sea, I know 
not whither" (Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts, p. 534). 

During these years I find frequent mention of Middletons on 
the Accomack records. In 1667, December 16, Thomas Mid- 
dleton was convicted of "mutinous behavior" and ordered to 
receive thirty lashes on his bare back, In 1683 is a deposition 
of his daughter Bridget, twenty-two years old — the same name 
as one of Edward Wale's daughters. 

In the registry of marks of cattle on Somerset records, June 
10, 1681, Edward Wale's name is spelled Wall, showing that it 
was pronounced as two syllables. 

The Whaley and Robins families still live on the Eastern 
Shore and trace their descent as above. I give these striking 
traditions for what they are worth, neither defending nor contro- 
verting them. 

41. Page 187. Words from Makemie's Answer to Keith's 
Libel on his Catechism. — From this Libel and Answer we gather 
our only knowledge of the Catechism. Oh that a copy of the 
little book might yet be found ! Every expedient has been tried 
by the present writer to secure a thorough search of the old libra- 
ries and garrets of the Lower Peninsula, but as yet in vain. The 
date and the place of publication are unknown. We only know 
that it was in the hands of the people at the time of Keith's visit 
to Somerset, in 1691. 

42. Page 190. Makemie on Accomack records. — These two are 
the earliest notices of Makemie yet found on the Accomack rec- 
ords. The Finny trial was known to Spence and others. When 
I discovered his assessments for this year and the following years, 
I hoped that I was about to trace him by these tax-lists back to 
his first settlement on the Shore ; but what was my disappoint- 



APPENDIX. 529 

inent to find that back of 1690 no tax-lists were put upon 
record. 

We have not been able to find anywhere any mention of 
Makemie after his letter to Mather in 1685 "P till the present 
year. Unfortunately, most of the Somerset records between 
those dates have been destroyed — a disappointing hiatus. Cer- 
tainly he had returned to the Eastern Shore before 1690. I have 
chosen to place his removal near the time of the Virginia troubles 
and of Trail's departure for Europe. 

Mr. Finney was afterward (1720) the second husband of Mrs. 
Makemie's sister Comfort. The fish-hawk's nest and other feat- 
ures of the scenery are from my own view of the Matchatank 
in 1880. 

43. Page 193. Makemie's marriage. — The date of marriage 
cannot be ascertained. From the Accomack records we see that 
his home in 1690 was at Matchatank. His answer to Keith is 
dated 1692, and speaks of the Quakers being "at my house at 
Poccomok " the year previous. Between these two dates — 1690 
and 1691 — he seems to have changed his home to Mr. Ander- 
son's or near it. This is my only reason for placing his marriage 
at this time. Hill says it occurred " about the latter part of the 
year 1697 or the beginning of 1698," but gives no authority. 
Those are the years during which we know nothing of Makemie. 
Hill is a zealous guesser. 

44. Page 194. Profa7iity punished. — The following affidavit 
was discovered by myself in 1880, putting back the record-evi- 
dence of Rehoboth church seventeen years and proving that "the 
new church " of Makemie's will was the second there built (Som- 
erset records 1687-1691, fol. 90). The Maryland Legislature 
having lately passed a law for the punishment of profanity, and 
arrests having been made and no little excitement caused thereby, 
I was thinking of history repeating itself, and therefore reading 
with some interest the old prosecution of two centuries ago, when 
I was startled by dropping upon the names of Makemie and the 
church, used in the affidavit for locating the crime and verifying 
dates. Like many of my discoveries, it has been used freely by 
others without credit. 

The affidavit is made by Dr. John Vigerous before Justices 
Francis Jenkins, Thomas Newbold and George Layfield, as 
follows : 

"Memorandum. That upon the second of this present April, 
anno 1691, there being a funeral sermon preached at Rehoboth 
church by Mr. Francis Mackemy, minister, toward night on the 
34 



530 APPENDIX. 

day aforesaid, William Morris came over to the house of Mr 
Edmund Howard near Rehoboth town. The said Morris began 
to curse and swear several oaths against the said Mackemy, call- 
ing him fool and loggerhead and puppy with other ill language, 

saying, him, he could preach a better sermon than that fool 

could do upon such a subject as death. At last the said Morris 
laid down to sleep. In the night he got up again, I did judge it 
to be about twelve or one o'clock. The said Morris proceeded 
much after the aforesaid language with many horrible oaths," etc. 
These oaths and blasphemies against "Christ our Judge" I 
need not transcribe. For these he was prosecuted, not for his 
denunciations of Makemie. His repeating the words "the last 
enemy that shall be destroyed is death " among his blasphemies 
causes the supposition that this was the preacher's text. 

45. Page 203. Makemie ill. — We cannot tell what the ailment 
was, but under date of July 26, 1692, in the preface of his An- 
swer to Keith, Mr. Makemie says: "If any should censure me 
for my tediousness in answering, I had finished it a year ago, but 
by reason of my tedious affliction not transcribed until now." 

Mr, Makemie left his English books to wife and daughters at 
his death, and two volumes of Flavel are in the widow's inven- 
tory — probably her husband's, 

46. Page 205. His will. — This ingot of gold was unearthed by 
my friend and helper, William H. Brown, deputy clerk of Som- 
erset court, following closely upon my own discovery of the 
Morris affidavit. The latter proved the existence of a church at 
Rehoboth in 1691 ; this valuable paper proved the presence of 
two other Presbyterian ministers in the county the same year. 
So far as I know, this is the only mention of Thomas Wilson on 
the records. 

The will is witnessed by Adrian W, Marshall, John Vigerous, 
William Robbeson, Alexander Cillock and Robert Nearn (Som- 
erset records 1690-1692, fol. 94, 95). 

47. Page 208. William Boggs. — Accomack records, Feb. 21, 
1692. In Makemie's will he remembers his "kinsman William 
Boggs." A descendant of this Boggs in Accomack tells me that 
his ancestor was " the nephew of old parson Makemie and came 
with him from Ireland." 

48. Page 212. — The commissiofiers to lay out parishes were as 
follows: Matapony: Thomas Purnell, Henry Hall, WiUiam Ste- 
venson and Richard Holland ; Pocomoke : John Cornish, John 
Starret, Alexander Maddux, William Noble ; Annamessex : Wil- 
liam Colburn, Wilham Planner, Thomas Dixon, Hall ; 



APPENDIX. 531 

Monokin : Arnold Elzey, Richard Chambers, Richard Whitty, 
John Strawbridge ; Mony : George Betts, John Law, John Ren- 
shaw and John White ; Wicomico : Daniel Hast, William Elgate, 
Williain Alexander and Matthew Wallis ; Nanticoke : Robert 
Collier, James Weatherby, John Round and William Piper. It 
does not necessarily follow that all of these were Episcopalians. 

49. Page 225. — This is the last assessme7it in the Accomack 
records against Mr. Makemie. 

These lists mention the taxpayer's name, and opposite it the 
number of tithables, thus : 

" Francis Makemie 3." 

This is the uniform way throughout the lists. This year alone 
it is different from all others, thus : 

" At Mr. Makemie's ... 3." 

Was he at this time out of that province, and only his tithables 
(servants) living there ? In the lists for the next two years (1694 
and 1695) he is not mentioned at all. Had he removed across 
the line ? After 1695 no lists are put on record. 

I have an idea that for a while Mr. Makemie was making his 
home at Rehoboth. His Aiiswer to Keith is dated thus : "At 
Rehoboth in Pocomok Maryland, This 26 July 1692." The will 
of Galbraith speaks of him (August, 1691) as "minister of the 
Gospel at Rehoboth Town." A note given this year (1693) to 
Mr. Makemie is for corn to be delivered "at the mill at Reho- 
both." None of these things are, of course, conclusive, but, 
taken in connecdon with the fact of his owning property there 
and his apparent absence from Virginia, there is some proba- 
bihty in the supposidon. Did his "tedious affliction" cause him 
to move up nearer to a physician — Dr. Vigerous ? 

50. Page 239. The court-house . — Still known as " Court-House 
Hill," about five miles above Pocomoke City. I cannot find 
where the former court-house stood. The first point designated 
for holding court was on the loth of January, 1666, "at the house 
of Thomas Pool at Mannakin." In January, 1667, it was ordered 
that a site be selected and a court-house built at "the most con- 
venient place." January 12, 1688, it " was ordered that the Clerk 
draw a conveyance for the ten acres of land, where the court- 
house now is, from Andrew Whittington to two commissioners." 
November 14 of the same year (1688) agreement was made with 
William Venable, joiner, to new-roof the house and make other 
changes. This is all I know until the new house is ordered, as 
in the text. 

51. Page 239. Thomas Fookes.—\x\. 1674 the will of Thomas 



532 APPENDIX. 

Fookes or Fowkes is recorded ; in it his wife Amy is mentioned, 
and his "trusty and esteemed friend" William Anderson also, 
the "right and lawful heirs " of the latter to hold the reversion 
of certain lands. 

In 1678 the nuncupative will of Mrs. Amy Fookes is proved, 
appointing William Anderson administrator, saying he has been 
a "dutiful son to her " and giving his daughters Naomi and Com- 
fort each three cows and calves. 

My idea is that the Thomas Fookes of the text was a son of 
the above maker of the will, the second husband of Mr. Ander- 
son's mother. 

52. Page 243. Answer to Keith. — Two copies of this book are 
in existence — one in the library of the Old South church, Boston, 
the other in the library of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 
The title is as follows : 

AN ANSWER 

TO 

GEORGE KEITH'S LIBEL 

AGAINST A 

CATECHISM, Published by Francis Makemie. 



To which is Added, by way of Postscript, A Brief Narrative of a Late 
Difference among the Quakers, begun at Philadetphia. 



BOSTON : 

Printed by Benjamin Harris, at the Sign of the BIBLE, 

over-against the Blew- Anchor. 



53. Page 267. Weavers. — McMahon, p. 275, note; names of 
weavers are from Somerset records. In 1709 a writer [British 
Empire in America) says : " There is little or no woolen manu- 
facture followed by any of the inhabitants except what is done 
in Somerset county." 

54. Page 271. Indian town. — Town mentioned in Somerset 
records. On Herman's map (1670) it is located up the river, ap- 
parently on both sides. In 1698 the Quaker preacher Chalkley 
was at George Truitt's, in the vicinity of Snow Hill, and speaks 
of an " Indian town not far from his house." Was not Askim- 



APPENDIX. 533 

mekonson the locality above Snow Hill, north of the river, known 
as " Indian Town " to this day ? 

The customs and the facts upon which the imaginary speech is 
based are drawn partly from Bozman's Maiyland, but more espe- 
cially from the best account we have of the Nanticokes, in a book 
published in 1819 : Historical Account of the bidian Nations who 
once inhabited Pennsylvania and the Neighboring States. By 
Rev. John Heckewelder of Bethlehem. 

When the Nanticokes finally left the Peninsula, our author 
speaks of seeing them passing up through Bethlehem bearing 
the bones of their dead. They are said to have faded away 
very rapidly. 

In the manuscript of Mr. Murray in the Philadelphia Society, 
from which I take specimens of dialect (1792), is the following 
note : " Wynicaco, the last king crowned of the Nanticoke tribe. 
He died at past 80 years since. His body was preserved and 
very formally kept in a Quacason house — Chiacason house, 70 
years dead." 

55. Page 279. Thomas Wilson. — I have no idea what had be- 
come of this Thomas Wilson (see Appendix 29) ; he had evi- 
dently either died or left the county. Nor do I know who Rev. 
James Breekin is. His is a Scotch name — perhaps a Presbyte- 
rian — but quite a number of superfluous Scotch curates were 
coming over about this time, and he may have been one of them. 
He is mentioned again hereafter in his testimony on Layfield's 
marriage. 

56. Page 279. The churches. — A mystery I cannot solve. 
There is record-evidence of a church at Rehoboth and Mr. Ma- 
kemie preaching there in 1691. Is the old pubhc road from Mo- 
rumsco, passing Rehoboth, crossing the river at Stevens's Ferry, 
running over toward Selby's Bay, thence up the coast, the road 
described as " going up along the seaside " ? The whole county 
is described in the older patents— even the lands north and west 
of the Pocomoke — as "on the seaboard," distinguishing this 
from the Western Shore. An order of court in 1705 that "no 
one drive or catch a horse or horses upon the great bridge on 
Pocomoke river " is directed to be published " at the churches 
and meeting-houses at Snow Hill and on the seaside." The 
bridge was at Snow Hill, and the publication seemed to be de- 
signed partly for those who should use it from "the seaside." 

Was there a Dissenters' meeting-house nearer the coast than 
Pitts's Creek or Snow Hill ? Was it Buckingham ? Was it at 
St. Martin's? My father told me, when a boy, of an old tradi- 



534 APPENDIX. 

tion that there was once a Presbyterian church where St. Martin's 
Episcopal church now is. (See Appendix 70.) 

57. Page 284. Mr. Davis. — Affidavit on Somerset records for 
next year (1698). This is the last notice I could find of Mr. 
Davis in Marj^land. He speaks here of going to Hoarkil 
(Lewes) ; the next we hear of him (a blank till 1706) he is living 
at Lewes. When Hampton came over, Snow Hill was vacant. 
If Davis had been in the county in 1698, he would probably 
have been a witness at Layfield's trial. 

58. Pages 288 and 312. " Truths in a True Light.'' — So is the 
little book dated — Barbadoes, December 28, 1697 — ^but its title- 
page shows that it was not put in print until two years afterward. 
We know of but one copy in existence, that in the hbrary of 
Harvard. From that my transcript is taken. The title is as 
follows : 

TRUTHS 
In a true LIGHT; 

OR, 

A Pastoral LETTER 

TO THE 

REFORMED PROTESTANTS 

IN 

BARBADOES. 

Vindicating the Non-Conformists from the Misrepresentations 

commonly made of them in that Island and 

in other places ; 

AND 

Demonstrating, that they are indeed the truest and soundest 

part of the Church of 

ENGLAND. 

From Francis Makemie, Minister 

of the Gospel. 

2 Pet. 3 : 17. 

Beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware , . . Lest ye fall 
from your own steadfastness. 

EDINBURGH. 

Printed by the Successors of Andrew Anderson. 

1699. 



APPENDIX. 535 

59. Page 301. Plantation bequeathed to Make mie. —This is 
now the Miles farm, near the mouth of Holden's Creek. Madam 
Holden (Anne Makemie) in after-years built a residence at the 
eastern end of the estate— now the Fletcher farm— and died 
there. In her will she speaks of the "Westernmost part where 
I formerly lived" — z. e., the Miles tract, where was the old home- 
stead and burial-ground. 

60. Page 308. The arrest in i6gg. — I do not vouch for this 
arrest and trial of Makemie. Dr. Miller's Memoir of Rodgers 
(p. 90) states it positively. Foote's Sketches (p. 48) says: "We 
have only strong conjectural evidence, besides tradition, of his 
being called before legal tribunals in Virginia." 

I place it in the present year for reasons appearing in the text 
— the date of the Virginia Toleration Act and of Makemie's 
qualifying under it. 

61. Page 309. Church-buildings. — This shows that at this date 
there were no church-buildings in Accomack, while there were 
several in Somerset, and had been for some while, as shown 
before. 

62. Page 316. The name perpetuated. — In various forms the 
name, both Francis and Makemie, is very common on the Penin- 
sula. It is frequently hidden under such perversions as " Kim- 
ma," etc. 

In 1880 I was riding over the Makemie tract, south of the 
Matchatank, when I met a Mr. Boggs, a descendant of our pio- 
neer's nephew, who volunteered to take me across the creek to 
" talk traditions " with his mother. While speaking enthusiasti- 
cally of "old parson Makemie," suddenly she pointed to a house 
within sight and said, "Why, yonder within a month has been 
born a little girl whose middle name is Makemie." Thus the 
name lives on. 

63. Page 342. John Wilson seems to have been at New Castle 
as early as 1686 (Webster, p. 311). 

64. Page 351. The Jamaica church. — Careful reading of Dr. 
McDonald's History of the Jamaica Church must convince any 
one of the author's failure to prove it the oldest Presbyterian 
church in America. No doubt a church of Dissenters was there 
long before Makemie's landing at Rehoboth, but, by the author's 
own showing, it was in no true sense Presbyterian. My state- 
ment in the text is a fair summing up of the case. 

On p. 70, Dr. McDonald shows from documents that in 1686 
a Mr. Prudden had been "for ten years discharging the work of 
a minister according to the way of ye churches in New England." 



536 APPENDIX. 

Prudden is a zealous Congregationalist, and, dissatisfied with the 
Presbyterian elements in his flock, proposes to organize an un- 
mixed Congregational church. The author argues that Prudden's 
Congregationalism was the obstacle to collecting his salary, but 
we find that the church in 1691, acceding to his own terms (p. 79), 
agrees to pay arrearages and increase his salary. Had not Con- 
gregationalism triumphed ? 

So with the author's other arguments. They show that there 
were Presbyterians in Jamaica, which no one denies ; but, instead 
of proving that it was a Presbyterian church in any true sense of 
that term, they prove directly the reverse. 

Dr. McDonald must have felt that he fails to make out his 
case, for he says on p. 145 : "Mr. McNish may therefore be re- 
garded as the father of the Presbyterian church on Long Island. 
. . . He may be with equal propriety be regarded as the father of 
Presbyterianism in its distinctive form in New York." 

But Mr. McNish did not settle in Long Island until 171 1 — five 
years after Makemie had organized the Presbytery in Philadel- 
phia, a quarter of a century after four Presbyterian ministers had 
lived and preached on the Eastern Shore of Maryland ! The 
Presbyterianism of Long Island went to our Lower Peninsula to 
find a father. 

65. Page 356. Makemie' s childrcji. — I find it impossible to dis- 
cover the ages of Makemie's children. The first mention found 
of Elizabeth is in the will of Mr. Anderson, dated this year 
(1703). We know that the Makemies had no children when Mr. 
Anderson's will was made (1698). The older daughter was born 
within those five years. 

66. Page 370. Marylajid Indians. — Matahocka's cabin at 
Onancock is mentioned on the Accomack records as early as 
1678 in connection with the annual fair held near it. Morumsco 
James is mentioned on Somerset records of current dates. 

67. Page 393. Makemie's return in 170J. — His business being 
managed by Mrs. Makemie and Mr. Kemp certainly as late as 
June 6, we infer that Dr. Hill is mistaken in saying that Make- 
mie returned "late in March." 

68. Page 393. Help from London. — Records of the Presbyterian 
Church * (p. 16). A letter addressed by Presbytery to Sir Edward 
Harrison in May, 1709, says: "The negotiations begun and en- 
couraged by a fund in the time when our worthy friend Mr. 
McKemie, now deceased, was with you, for evangehzing these 
colonies, was a business exceedingly acceptable to a multitude 

* Published by the Presbyterian Board. 



APPENDIX. 537 

of people, and was likely to have been of great service if con- 
tinued." 

On p. 20, in a letter of September, 17 10, to the Presbytery of 
Dublin, they say : "Our late dear Brother Mr. Francis McKemie 
prevailed with the ministers of London to undertake the support 
of two itinerants for the space of two years, and after that time 
to send two more upon the same condition, allowing the former 
to settle ; which, if accomplished, had proved of more than 
credible advantage to these parts, considering how far scattered 
most of the inhabitants be." 

The latter letter of 17 10 settles positively the comparative ages 
of the Accomack and Somerset churches : " In all Virginia there 
is but one small congregation, at Ehzabeth River, and some few 
families favoring our way in Rappahannock and York. In Mary- 
land, only four." 

Dr. Hill, with usual recklessness, represents Mr. Makemie him- 
self to have been sent out by these London ministers ! 

69. Page 408. A Maryland poem. — An anachronism. These 
and other verses in the chapter are from a beautiful Maryland 
poem published twenty-four years afterward in the Gentleman' s 
Magazine : "A Journey from Patapsco to Annapolis, April 4th 
1730" (Neill's TetTa Marice, p. 239). 

70. Page 411. The First church. — "Near Mr. Edgar's." This 
is generally supposed to be the old Pitts's Creek church, but afteK 
years of effort I am as far as ever from settling the question defi- 
nitely. 

In 1684, James Round secured a warrant for five hundred 
acres of land to be located "on the seaboard." Two hundred 
were located on St. Martin's River, on the coast, not far below 
the Delaware line, and the tract was called in the old patent 
"South Benfleet," now Benefit. It was in the neighborhood of 
Wrixam and Ambrose White, and other Presbyterians. After- 
ward the remaining three hundred acres were patented (1686) 
"in the Pocomoke" and called "Good Success," on the opposite 
side of the river from Pocomoke City and about a mile above, 
now the Melvin property and lands adjacent. 

Mrs. Mary Rounds, widow of the patentee, marrying John 
Edgar, both these tracts became his. The St. Martin's tract was 
deeded by Edgar and wife to a Mr. Cropper in 1704. Somewhere 
between that date and 1707, Edgar died; for then we find the 
widow making a deed to the Pocomoke tract. 

In the patents both of these tracts are described as " on the 
seaboard," although the latter is at the same time described aa 



53^ APPENDIX. 

north-west of the Pocomoke, and is ahnost as near to the Chesa- 
peake as to the Atlantic. All Somerset county (Somerset, Wor- 
cester and Wicomico) was at that time spoken of as "on the 
seaboard," as appears from many old patents and from the com- 
mission from Baltimore to Stevens to encourage the settlement 
of " the seaboard." 

This Pocomoke tract of Edgar's is about seven miles from 
both Pitts's Creek and Rehoboth, and seven miles was " near " in 
those days of scattered population and long distances. I do not 
think that Rehoboth church is meant, i. Because it would better 
have been designated by the name of the town than by a plan- 
tation so far away ; 2. Because Rehoboth church is recorded 
under its own name two years afterward, when it is stated that 
application had been made some time before and referred to 
Annapolis ; 3. Mr. Makemie considered his Barbadoes and Vir- 
ginia certificates sufficient protection, as we shall find, in New 
York. 

There is a tradition — inveterate and hard to ignore — that the 
first Makemie meeting-house was built where Pocomoke City 
(formerly New Town) now is. This was the old Stevens ferry, 
at one time also called " Meeting-House Landing." It is said that 
the church was first erected here to accommodate all the people 
on both sides of the river, who, while there was but one church, 
could best meet at the ferry. After this the traditions differ, one 
asserting that the church of cypress logs was torn down by the 
Episcopalians before completed and thrown into the river at 
night — that the logs floated to Rehoboth and there were drawn 
on shore and the house built. Another tradition affirms that the 
logs were collected at the ferry and put together again, the Pres- 
byterians remaining by the building night and day, armed, until 
it was under roof and safe. 

An old gentleman still living told me that when a boy, near 
the beginning of the present century, he saw the roof and other 
remains of what was called "the old Presbyterian meeting- 
house." Persons still older, now dead, told relatives yet living 
that they used to attend, not far from the middle of the last cen- 
tury, what was even then called "the old Makemie church," lo- 
cated definitely upon a lot near the river in Pocomoke City. I 
have found it impossible to rebut these traditions so wonderfully 
fortified. Only one fact seems directly to conflict : history and 
the records give no indication of such hostility of the Episcopa- 
lians on the Eastern Shore at that early date. 

To strengthen these traditions, we have but lately discovered 



APPENDIX. 5 39 

the true locality of "Mr. Edgar's," and find it to be within a mile 
of the place where this stubborn tradition located the first church, 
locating it there without any knowledge that the Edgar planta- 
tion was so near ! And yet traditions are not always decisive. 
There are traditions just as strong and inveterate that the first 
church was at Snow Hill ; and that it was at Rehoboth. My 
opinion is that several churches were built very near the same 
time — perhaps the same year. For reasons appearing all through 
the text, my belief is that Rehoboth will always maintain its 
claim to priority. 

Another reason hard to rebut is found in the words of Rev. 
Samuel McMaster, Anne Makemie's pastor, copied by Spence 
{Letters, p. 97) from McMaster's autograph: "The first congre- 
gation which worshiped at Rehoboth, consisted of English Dis- 
senters. A few families migrated from England, their consciences 
not suffering them to comply with the Establishment there exist- 
ing, and settled near the mouth of Pocomoke River and the ad- 
jacent parts — some on the east, and some on the west, side of 
the river — and formed themselves into a religious society for the 
public worship of God. A house for public worship was built on 
the west side of the river, at a place called ' Rehoboth.' " 

A comma after the word "congregation" is alone needed to 
make the assertion positive that the first place of worship was 
Rehoboth. But, besides this, we know that the chief early set- 
tlements had been in that part of the county, and with this in 
mind, and the early prominence of Rehoboth, the inference is 
unavoidable that McMaster was speaking of the first organiza- 
tion in the county. 

71. Page 419. First meeting of Presbytery. — It is impossible 
to ascertain positively the date of the first meeting of Presbytery, 
In his introduction to the old records Dr. Engles says : "Judging 
from the first date which appears on page 3 of these records, it 
must have been about the beginning of the year 1705." This 
cannot be, for Makemie and "his assistants" did not reach 
America until in the summer at the earliest. 

Hill thinks it was in 1705 ; Webster believes it was probably 
in September, 1706; both consider the meeting with which the 
records open to have been an adjourned meeting at Freehold for 
the special purpose of ordaining Boyd. Hodge expresses no 
opinion as to date. Gillett leaves it uncertain as between 1705 
and 1706. Foote thinks it not likely to have been organized 
until after the qualification of Macnish and Hampton, which was 
in Juno, 1706. 



540 APPENDIX. 

This latter is my own opinion, as embodied in the text, for I 
have no idea that these ministers and their leader would have 
been absent from Maryland while their licensure and its moment- 
ous issues were still in doubt and needing constant vigilance. I 
put it toward the close of the year because of a probability that 
the ministers taking part in the adjourned meeting would have 
the two meetings near together, so as to obviate the necessity of 
another hard trip home and back again. 

The mutilated records do not make it certain that the meeting 
with which they now begin and the ordination occurred at Free- 
hold, but Cornbury's letter charging Makemie and Hampton with 
ordaining young men in New Jersey leaves no doubt as to place. 
The old manuscript minutes begin abruptly at the top of the 
third page, and are as follows : 

"Deregimine ecclesise, which being heard was approved of 
and sustained. He gave in also his thesis to be considered of 
against next sederunt. 

" Sederunt 2nd lo bris 27. Post preces sederunt Mr, Francis 
Makemie Moderator, Messrs. Jedediah Andrews and John Hamp- 
ton, Ministers. 

"Mr. John Boyd performed the other parts of his trial, viz., 
preached a popular sermon on John i : 12 ; defended his thesis ; 
gave satisfaction as to his skill in the languages ; and answered 
to extemporary questions ; all which were approved of and sus- 
tained. 

"Appointed his ordination to be on the next Lord's Day, the 
29th inst., which was accordingly performed in the public meet- 
ing-house of this place before a numerous assembly ; and the 
next day he had the certificate of his ordination." 

72. Page 428. The New York sermon. — There is some confu- 
sion of dates as to the time of preaching. The Force tract con- 
taining the narrative believed to be written by Mr. Makemie 
himself states that the sermon was preached on the 20th, and the 
other dates hang along upon that. But the 20th was Monday, 
and evidently the preaching was on Sunday, which was the 19th. 
Undoubtedly, the author mistook the day of the month. So 
Cornbury says : "On the Monday following, I was informed that 
Makemie had preached the day before y 

73. Page 433. Persecutions of Cardale. — Webster, p. 85. In 
171 1, Colonel Heathcote declares: "Many of the instruments 
made use of to setde the church in Jamaica were of warm tem- 
pers, and, if report is true, indifferent in their morals. One Mr. 
Cardale, a transient person and of very indifferent reputation, 



APPENDIX. 541 

was recommended and made high sheriff of the county, and the 
settling of the church was left in a great measure to his care and 
conduct." Smith, the historian, calls him " one Cardwell, a mean 
fellow." Thomson in his History of Long Island says that he 
sustained a despicable character and was afterward thrown into 
prison, and there hanged himself. 

74. Page 473. The Sermon was issued under the following 
tide : 

A GOOD CONVERSATION. 

A 

SERMON. 
PREACHED AT THE CITY 

OF 

NEW YORK. 
Jan. 19th, 1706-7. 



By Francis Makemie, Minister of the Gospel of Christ. 



Matt. 5 : 11. — Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and 
shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my name's sake. 

Acts 5 : 29. — Then Peter and the other Apostles answered and said. We ought 
to obey God rather than men. 



Preces et lachrymoe sunt arma E celesta. 



BOSTON IN N. E. 

Printed by B. Green for Benj. Eliot. 

Sold at his Shop, 1707. 

75. Page 479. Makeinie's account of his prosecution. — The 
title-page is as follows, from one of the Force tracts : 



542 APPENDIX. 

A 

NARRATIVE 

OF A NEW AND UNUSUAL 

AMERICAN 

IMPRISONMENT 

OF TWO 

PRESBYTERIAN MINISTERS : 

AND PROSECUTION OF 

Mr. FRANCIS MAKEMIE, 

One of them for Preaching one Sermon at the 
City of New York. 



By a Learner of Law and Lover of Liberty. 



PRINTED FOR THE PUBLISHER: 1707. 

This tract was republished in 1755, and was used in the cause 
of American Uberty (Webster, p. 307). 

76. Page 490. " The Sot- Weed Factor ^ — The full title of this 
early Maryland poem is as follows : 

the 

SOT-WEED FACTOR: 

or, a voyage to 

MARYLAND. 

A 

SATYR 

In which is described 

The Laws, Government, Courts and Constitutions of the Country, and 

also the Buildings, Feasts, Frolics, Entertainments and 

Drunken Humors of the Inhabitants of that 

Part of America. 



In Burlesque Verse. 



By EBEN cook, Gent. 



LONDON : 

Printed and Sold by D, Bragg, at the Raven in Pater Noster-Row, 

1708. (Price 6d.) 



APPENDIX. 543 

My copy is a facsimile reprint from the first edition, one of 
Shea's Early Southern Tracts, 1865. 

77. Page 505. Elizabeth 3/a/cefme.—El\za.heth, the older daugh- 
ter, died the same year with her father. On the Accomack rec- 
ords, dated October 6, 1708, is this entry: "This day Madam 
Naomie Makemie petitioned this Court for Administration on the 
Estate of Ehzabeth Makemie, her daughter, late deceased, she 
dying intestate, which was by the Court granted, she giving 
Bond and Security as the Law directs," etc. John Brandhurst 
and Hill Drummond were the securities. 

78. Page 506. The widow of Makemie. — On the 7th of April, 
1709, a document is recorded beginning as follows: "We the 
subscribers did on the day of date hereof inventory sundry goods 
and several negroes which upon view of Wilham Anderson's 
will was wholly left and bequeathed, according to our judgment, 
to Naomi Makemie, now Naomi Kemp, daughter of the said 
Anderson," etc. 

Here we learn that Mrs. Makemie had married again in less 
than a year after her husband's death. The records show that 
rich widows married rapidly in those days. This James Kemp 
was one of the "trusty and good friends " named in Mr. Make- 
mie's will "to be aiding, advising and assisting my aforesaid ex- 
ecutrix in ye management of my estate." Pie had also been in- 
cluded in the power of attorney given Mrs. Makemie by her 
husband during his absence in Europe (1704-1705). 

On the 5th of October, 1709, an inventory of Elizabeth Make- 
mie's estate is presented by Naomi Kemp. Another of the same 
estate (Elizabeth's) is presented May 4, 17 10, by James Kemp, 
as follows : " Negro girls : Hannah, ^22 ; Sarah, ^24 ; Sue, £\i ; 
Kate, £\2. Negro boys, Adam, ^9; Toby, ^7." 

Under date of December 3, 17 17, is a "deposition of Naomy 
Kemp aged 49 years or thereabouts." 

On the 7th November, 1721, the will of James Kemp is pro- 
bated by Naomi Kemp, executrix — again a widow. The will is 
proved by Mrs. Comfort Finney and Anne Makemie. Comfort's 
first husband, Ehas Taylor, had died in May, 17 17, and in 1720 
she had married William Finney, whom Mr. Makemie had sued 
for fifteen bushels of wheat in 1690— the first mention of our 
pioneer on the county records. 

Kemp's will gives cows and calves and negroes to his "kins- 
man James Wishart." To "sister Mary the wife of Thomas 
Wishart of Princess Anne county in Virginia 200 acres of land 
lying and being in ye said county at Back Bay known and 



544 APPENDIX. 

so-called." Remainder of estate "to my loving wife Naomi 
Kemp." 

Rev. Josias Mackie owned a farm on Back Bay, and in his 
will, dated 1716, November 7, and probated the i6th, he leaves 
bequests to John Wishart. 

In an inventory of Kemp's estate presented by Naomi, 
September 14, 1723, are the following books, which I take 
to have been Makemie's: "Pool's Ajinotations on the Bible, 
I pound five pence ; one sermon book by Flavel, 8 shillings ; 
two other books by same, 13 shilhngs ; twenty-four old books, 
3 pounds." 

On September 27, 1728, is recorded a survey to lay out the 
land of Naomi Kemp south of Matchatank Creek, the tract pur- 
chased from Robert Hutchinson by Makemie in 1693. This is 
the last mention I have been able to find of Mrs. Makemie. 
She was then sixty years old. Her sister Comfort died in the 
year 1732. William Boggs, the " kinsman " of Mr. Makemie's 
will, and named in the land-grant of 1692, died in 1718, an in- 
ventory of his estate appearing that year. 

79. Page 508. Makemie's yoimger daughter. — Reliable tradi- 
tion affirms that Anne Makemie first married a Mr. Blair. Since 
hearing of this I have had no opportunity for verifying it from 
the records. Her second husband was Robert King, born in 
1689, son. of Robert King and brother of Mrs. Mary Jenkins, the 
wife of Colonel Jenkins and warm friend of Makemie. Mrs. 
Jenkins afterward married the Rev. John Henry, Mr. Makemie's 
successor at Rehoboth, by whom she left two sons, Robert Jen- 
kins Henry and John Henry, both men of prominence. After 
Mr. Henry's death his widow married the Rev. John Hampton. 
Lying flat on the ground in the wreck of a graveyard on the 
Jenkins plantation, a mile below Rehoboth, is an old crumbling 
stone on which I deciphered these words : " Under this stone 
lyeth the body of Madam Mary Hampton who departed this 
life the 19th of Oct. 1744, Aged 70 years wanting three days." 

On the Accomack records is the will of Robert King, dated 
May 30, 1753, with several later codicils, and finally probated by 
his wife, Anne, May 9, 1755. How long they had been married 
I cannot discover. He speaks of a former wife and her children, 
Nehemiah and Robert, the latter deceased ; of his two grandsons, 
Thomas and Robert Jenkins King ; of his " deceased sister, Mary 
Hampton," and her two sons; of "my granddaughter Mary 
Barns" and of "my niece Elizabeth Dashiel, wife of Charles 
Dashiel." He refers to his wife's "home-plantation in Acco- 



APPENDIX. 545 

mack" and her " Matchatank plantation," thus certainly identi- 
fying his wife, Anne, with Anne Makemie. 

The widow next marries George Holden, clerk of the county 
court. The records show them husband and wife in 1765, and 
there is also recorded a deed signed by himself alone in 1760. 
They had evidently married between these two dates. He was 
a widower with an only son, of his own name. 

On the 14th of September, 1768, Holden makes the following 
will : " In the name of God amen. George Holden of the county 
of Accomack in Virginia do ordain this my last will and testa- 
ment. Whereas, I promised my wife Anne that, if she should 
consent to dock the entail of the lands at Matchatank of which 
she was seized as tenant in fee tail at the time of our marriage, 
and having docked the same, and got the fee simple thereof in 
me and my heirs ; that she should, in case she survived me, en- 
joy and possess the said lands for and during the term of her 
natural life, and receive the whole profits thereof to her own use 
without impeachment of waste; therefore, in order to comply 
with the same promise and engagement, do hereby devise and 
bequeath the same to the said Anne and her assigns for and 
during the term of her natural life without impeachment of or 
for any manner of waste. As witness my hand this 14th day of 
Sept. 1768. Written by my own hand." 

Such docking of entail explains why Makemie's lands, on 
failure of issue by his daughters, never came into possession of 
relatives in Ireland, according to his will. We could have wished 
otherwise. 

Holden probably died in 1774, the above will being probated 
that year "on the motion of George Holden only son and heir at 
law to the said testator." 

Anne Makemie was for the third and last time a widow. Tra- 
dition represents her to have been very patriotic during the Revo- 
lution, and in frequent danger from British gunboats. This 
patriotism appears in three deeds dated June 26, 1787, in one of 
which she gives twenty-five acres of land to Joseph Boggs " for 
and in consideration of the natural affection that she bears to the 
said Joseph, and that the said Joseph will vote at the annual elec- 
tions for the most wise and discreet men who have proved them- 
selves real friends of the American Independence, to represent the 
county of Accomack." For like consideration a second deed gives 
twenty-five acres to John Milbourn, and a third deed gives four 
hundred acres— the "tract of land lying on Matchatank known by 
the name of Fookes's Neck "—to John, Francis and Joseph Boggs. 
35 



54^ APPENDIX. 

Very old and decrepit, she died between the 1 5th of November, 
1787, and the 29th of January, 1788— her will made on the former 
date, and probated on the latter. In her will she mentions her 
"deceased husband King." Among other bequests are these: 
" I give the two pictures of Father and Mother to Samuel Wil- 
son ;" "I give to the Rev. Jacob Ker the sum of twenty pounds. 
I give to the Rev. Samuel McMaster the sum of forty -six pounds, 
a mahogany desk, a bed and furniture, and a negro woman 
called Keziah and her children ;" ^' I give and devise to John 
Milligan and Mary Milbourn all the land and plantation where 
I live ; John Milligan to have the old part where I formerly lived 
being the Westernmost part of the land ; and Mary Milbourn the 
Easternmost part of the land where I now live ;" "I give fifty 
pounds to the good poor of my neighborhood to be given and 
disposed of at the discretion of WiUiam Selby ;" " I give one 
hundred pounds to the Pitts Creek Congregation to be disposed 
of by the Session for the support of a minister." The executors 
are Dr. William Williams, Colonel WiUiam Selby, Elijah Mil- 
bourn and the Rev. Samuel McMaster. 

The "old part" of the land, where she "formerly lived," is 
the present Miles farm, near the mouth of Holden's Creek — 
evidently the site of the Anderson and Makemie homestead. 

Under date of April 16, 1789, is a recorded settlement between 
the executors of Madam Holden and "George Corbin on behalf 
of John Perrin Executor of George Holden Junior, deceased, 
who was the Executor of George Holden Senior." 

The last of Makemie's children had not even a stepson to sur- 
vive her long. 

Upon the records is an inventory of Mrs. Holden dated Sep- 
tember 29, 1789 — very long, and containing the names of seventy- 
eight negroes, also mentioning the mahogany desk left to the Rev. 
Samuel McMaster, and appraised at six pounds. This desk was 
left by him to his son, Samuel McMaster, Esq., after whose death 
it was purchased at the vendue by the late John B. White. In 
the year 1883 it came into possession of the author — a venerable 
old piece of furniture, the only known rehc of the Makemie 
family. 

80. Page 510, Makemie s grave identified. — The plantation 
where the pioneer lived and died is well known, stretching along 
the south bank of Holden's Creek, formerly Houlston's, in Acco- 
mack county, from Jenkins's bridge to Pocomoke Sound. On 
this large tract of land, bequeathed by his father-in-law, are two 
old graveyards, about two miles apart — one on the upper or east- 



APPENDIX. 547 

ern farm, one on the lower or western. That one or the other 
of these is the Anderson and Makemie burial-ground there has 
never been a doubt. But which of these ? 

On page 302 of the text, and throughout Anderson's will, is 
seen his anxiety to preserve the said Pocomoke plantation in 
regular descent— the old Enghsh pride to found and perpetuate 
family estates. In the colonies of Virginia and Maryland there 
were few pubhc cemeteries ; on these family estates were the 
household graveyards, where the bones of the testator and of his 
far posterity were to sleep together and be protected by kindred 
hands from profanation for ever. A generous pride and pathetic 
dream ! 

Mr. Anderson shared all this. Having no sons, Pocomoke 
and Matchatank are bequeathed to his first-born, Naomi, and 
" Son Makemie." " If Naomi should become mother of more 
than one child, the most worthy of blood is to have Pocomoke." 
" In case Naomi dies childless, after her and her husband's nat- 
ural Uves on it, my other granddaughters are to have it as co- 
heirs among them, giving them liberty to sell each of their parts 
to each other," but most positively to no one "out of the family." 
The Makemies are bound to keep this home-plantation in thor- 
ough repair, just as the testator left it. So he passed away, doing 
all that could be done by testamentary precision and the laws of 
primogeniture to conserve, that estate to his descendants. There 
Makemie lived through the ten years following, and there died— 
his favorite home also. There Naomi lived until at least twenty 
years after. There Anne Makemie lived through three marriages 
and a third widowhood until 1787, and there died upon the same 
plantation. There, unquestionably, they were all buried. 

But the main difficulty in the traditionary evidence was the 
conflict with regard to the two graveyards on the same large 
tract— the eastern one on what is now the Fletcher farm, and the 
western on the Miles farm. An examination of the will of Anne 
Makemie (Madam Holden) began to solve the difiiculty : "I give 
and devise to John Milligan and Mary Milbourn all the land and 
plantation where I live ; John Milligan to have the old part where 
I formerly lived, being the westernmost part of the land; and 
Mary Milbourn the easternmost part of the land where I now 
liver The Milligan devise was near the mouth of the creek, at 
Pocomoke Sound-the present Miles farm. This was ' the old 
partr where her father and grandfather had lived and died. 
There would be the family burial-ground, and certainly not two 
miles away, on the new part (now the Fletcher farm) improved 



548 APPENDIX. 

by her after their death. Tradition is correct, however, in point- 
ing to the beautiful site at Jenkins's bridge as her last place of 
residence and the scene of her death. 

During the summer of 1879 '^Y friend Dr. J. T. B. McMaster 
of Pocomoke City, a grandson of Madam Holden's pastor, ac- 
companied me to the house, near Jenkins's bridge, of Mrs. Char- 
lotte Corbin, a lady then seventy years old, from whom we hoped 
to gain important information. It was our glad surprise to find 
that her maiden-name was Milligan — a niece of John Milligan 
of the will — and that she had grown up from childhood on "the 
old part" of the farm, associating with those who had known 
Madam Holden well. The Holden negroes used to amuse young 
Charlotte by imitating the peculiar sneeze of the old lady, and 
our informant and her companions used to dig about the old 
family mansion for the silver and gold said to have been buried 
as a protection from the British. Another tradition asserts that 
the bequest was made to Milligan because of his prompt bravery 
in assembling the neighbors and driving off an English gunboat 
steering for the rich widow's. 

Mrs. Corbin told us that the old family graveyard was sur- 
rounded by a brick wall, around the top of which she used to 
run in play when a barefoot girl ; that the tombstones were al- 
ready becoming badly broken and the fragments carried off for 
whetstones ; that there was then no difference of opinion in the 
community as to this being the place where Madam Holden and 
her forefathers were buried, and this too during the lifetime of 
hundreds of those who knew the deceased personally ; that the 
present graveyard had grown around the eastern corner of the 
wall, outside of it ; that the old family burying-ground, therefore, 
lies west of the present graveyard, and/zw/ where the cattle-pen 
and stables now are ; and that she, our informant, remembered 
when this act of desecration was deliberately perpetrated. 

Thus directed, we hastened down to "the old part" and with 
our hoes removed the surface-earth in search for some vestige of 
that brick wall. Sure enough, just as Mrs. Corbin described, we 
struck upon the foundation below the ground, followed its angles 
and found it enclosing the cattle-pen ! Entering the pen and 
digging below the accumulations, we came upon indications of 
graves covered with old English bricks laid edgewise. 

Our informant told us of a negro woman, Aunt Peggy Milli- 
gan, considerably older than herself, of remarkable intelligence 
and entirely trustworthy, who has since been interviewed by Dr. 
McMaster. Besides confirming in every particular the state- 



APPENDIX. 549 

ments of Mrs. Corbin, whose birth she distinctly remembers, 
thus placing her own birth very near the time of Anne Makemie's 
death, Aunt Peggy testified very clearly and definitely in addition 
that the low brick wall surrounding the graves was surmounted 
originally with a wooden fence, as is sometimes still seen in that 
section ; that it was the only graveyard with a brick enclosure in 
all that neighborhood ; that everybody knew it was the burial- 
ground of Madam Holden's family ; that the graveyard at the 
Fletcher farm is of considerably later date and only used as such 
after the death of Madam Holden. 

Thus the documentary, the traditional and the oral hving tes- 
timony all agree, both circumstantially and directly, and with an 
accumulative force that is perfectly conclusive. How fortunate 
to find those living witnesses just when we did ! 

We now know where our Makemie sleeps. " Committing my 
body to ye dust decently to be interred," but now alas the sacri- 
lege and the desecration ! It cannot hurt hiin. So sleeps the 
dust of John Calvin, under almost equal neglect. 



LIST OF AUTHORITIES. 



A Cloud of Witnesses for the Royal Prerogatives of Jesus Christ. 
y (Scotch pamphlet. Out of print.) ■, , -. 

V Annals of Annapolis. (Out of print.) /-^£^V^-", 
V Annals of the American Pulpit. By William B. Sprague, D. D. Rob- 
^ ert Carter & Bros., New York. 

Annals of Philadelphia. By J. F. Watson. Philadelphia : J. B, Lip- 

pincott Company. 
Bacon's Laws of Maryland. 

British Empire in America. Oldmixon. 1707. (Out of print.) 
Character of the Province of Maryland. By George Alsop. Edited 

byj. G. Shea. New York : Wm. Gowans. 1869. (Out of print.) 
Constitutional History of England. By Henry Hallam. New York : 

Harper & Brothers. 185 1. 
Constitutional History of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 

America. Charles Hodge. Philadelphia : Presbyterian Board. 

1851. 
Contributions to the Ecclesiastical History of the United States. Bishop 

Hawks. New York : J. S. Taylor. 1839. (Out of print.) 
Conversations, Discussions and Anecdotes of Thomas Story. Phila- 
delphia : Zell. i860. 
Court Records of Accomack County, Virginia. 
Court Records of Somerset County, Maryland. 
Derry and Enniskillen in the Year 1689. Prof. Thomas Witherow. 

Belfast: William Mullen. 1876. 
• Diary of John Evelyn. Edited by Wm. Bray. London: Warne & Co. 

i8i8. 
Early Religious History of Maryland. Rev. B. F. Brown. Baltimore : 

Innes & Co. 1 876. 
Founders of Maryland. Edward D. Neill. Albany: John Munsell. 

1876. 
General History of Virginia. Capt, John Smith. 
Historical and Literary Memorials of Presbyterianism in Ireland. Prof. 

Thomas Witherow. London and Belfast : Wm. Mullen & Son. 

1879. 

551 



552 LIST OF AUTHORITIES. 

Historical View of the Government of Maryland. John V. L. McMahon. 

Baltimore. 1831. (Out of print.) 
History, Manners and Customs of the Indian Nations. John Hecke- 

welder. Philadelphia: Pennsylvania Historical Society, 1876. 
History of American Literatui-e. Moses C. Tyler. New York : G. P. 

Putnam's Sons. 1879. 
History of the Church of England in the Colonies. James S. M. An- 
derson. London: Rivingtons. 1856. 
History of the Church of Scotland. W. M. Hetherington. New York : 

Carters. 1870. 
History of England. T. B. Macaulay. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippin- 

cott Company. 1 879. 
History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia. Charles 

Campbell. Philadelphia : J. B. Lippincott Company, i860. 
History of Maryland, John L. Bozman. Baltimore : Lucas & Deaver. 

1837. (Out of print.) 
History of Maryland. James McSherry. Baltimore : Murphy. 1849. 
Histoiy of Maiyland. J. Thomas Scharf. Baltimore : John B. Piet. 

1879. '> 
History of My Own Times. Bishop Gilbert Burnet. Oxford. 1823. 
History of New Sweden. Israel Acrelius. Philadelphia: Pennsyl- 
vania Historical Society. 1876. 
History of New York. William Smith. 

History of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. James S. Reid, Con- 
tinued by Killan. Belfast: Wm. Mullen. 1867. 
History of the Presbyterian Church in America. Richard Webster. 

Philadelphia: J. M. Wilson. 1857. (Out of print.) 
History of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. 

E. H. Gillett. Philadelphia : Presbyterian Board. 1864. 
History and Present State of Virginia. Robert Beverley. London. 

1705, Reprint, Richmond. 1855. 
History of the Rise, Progress, Genius and Chai'acter of American Pres- 

byterianism. William Hill. Washington City: J. Gideon. 1839. 

(Out of print.) 
History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland. Robert Wodrow. 

Glasgow: Blackie, Fullerton & Co. 1828. (Out of print.) 
History of the United States. George Bancroft. Boston : Little, 

Brown & Co. 1852. 
Journal of George Fox. Philadelphia : Friends' Bookstore. 
Journal of George Keith. Reprint by Episcopal Historical Society. 

(Veiy scarce.) 
Journal of Samuel Bownas. (Out of print.) 

Journal of Thomas Chalkley. Philadelphia: Friends' Bookstore. 1875. 
Leah and Rachel : the Two Fruitful Sisters Virginia and Maryland. 

John Hammond. Force's Historical Tracts. (Out of print.) 



LIST OF AUTHORITIES. 553 

Letters on the Early History of the Presbyterian Church in America. 
Irving Spence. Philadelphia: Henry Perkins. 1838. (Out of 
print.) 

Makemie's A Good Conversation : A Sermon Preached at the City of 

New York. Collections of New York Historical Society. 1870. 
Makemie's Answer to George Keith's Libel against his Catechism. 

Two copies. Library of Massachusetts Historical Society and of 

the Old South Church, Boston. 
Makemie's Narrative of a New and Unusual American Imprisonment. 

Force's Historical Tracts. 

Makemie's Perswasive for Promoting Towns. Library of Harvard 
University. 

Makemie's Truths in a True Light. Library of Harvard University. 
Manuscripts of the American Philosophical Society. Philadelphia. 
(Transcripts.) 

Minute-Book of the old Laggan Presbytery. (Transcripts.) 

Nonconformists' Memorial. Edmund Calamy. London : Button & Co. 
1802. (Out of print.) 

Notes on the Virginia Colonial Clergy. Edward D. Neill. Philadel- 
phia. 1877. 

Old Churches, Ministers and Families of Virginia. Bishop Meade. 
Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company. 1878. 

Pennsylvania Historical Magazine. 

Popular History of England. Charles Knight. New York : Lovell. 
1878. 

Provincial Records of Maryland. 

Records of the Presbyterian Church. Philadelphia: Presbyterian 
Board. 

Reports of Pennsylvania Historical Society. 

Reports of New York Historical Society. 

Report of Commissioners on the Boundary-Line of Maryland and Vir- 
ginia. Valuable ancient maps. Richmond. 1873. (Out of print.) 

Sketches of Virginia, Historical and Biographical. William Henry 
Foote. Philadelphia: Martien. 1850. (Out of print.) 

Sot- Weed Factor. Eben Cooke, Gent. London. 1708. Reprint 
Shea's Southern Tracts, No. 2. (Out of print.) 

Terra Marise. Edward D. Neill. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott 
Company. 1867. 

Two Centuries of the History of the Presbyterian Church of Jamaica, 
Long Island. J, M. Macdonald. New York : Carters. 1 862. 
(Out of print.) 

Troubadours, Their Loves and their Lyrics. John Rutherford. Lon- 
don : Smith, Elder & Co. 1873. 

Who were the Early Settlers of Maryland? Rev. Ethan Allen. Bal- 
timore. (Out of print.) 



INDEX, 



Accomack county settled 44; 
clergy and churches, 45, 46; 
Quakers, 45, 46; their petition 
to settle in Maryland, 55 ; Onan- 
cock, 84 ; Makemie's home, 171, 
190, 371, 

Adams, Rev. Alexander, 378; vs. 
Macnish, 396, 403. 

Anderson, William, home and fam- 
ily, 42; dies, 298; will, 299; 
grave, 303 ; widow dies, 364. 

Andrews, Rev. Jedediah, 295 ; or- 
dained, 342, 358 ; church built, 
377, 396; Presbytery, 415, 452, 
497 ; Makemie's will, 500. 

Authorities, List of, 551-553- 

Barbadoes, 286; pastoral to, 312. 

Baxter, Rev. Richard, before Jef- 
freys, 128; dies, 202. 

Beall, Colonel Ninian, arrival, 25 ; 
nativity, etc., 176; services hon- 
ored, 309. 

Bermudas, early Presbytenanism, 
146. 

Blair, Commissary, 227; college, 
226; "sort like Presbyterians," 

348. 

Boyd, Rev. John, 417. 

Bray, Dr. Thomas, commissary, 
265, 305, 31 1, 321, 340, 360, 378. 

Bray, Pierce, Elder, 337. 

Brechin, Rev. James, 278, 283. 

Buckingham plantation, loi. 

Burley plantation (Berlin), 99. 

Cabot, Sebastian, Maryland beach- 
es, 10. 

Colonial prices in tobacco, 1 16, 117, 
158, 164, 165,257, 274,368. 

Coode, John, plotting rebellion, 
40; character, 41, 136; in rev- 



olution, 173; plotting again, 
265. 

Copley, Governor Lionel, 208, 210, 
230, 236. 

Cornbury, Lord, 349; character, 
350; prosecutes Bownas, 349; 
Jamaica outrage, 35 1 ; in Phila- 
delphia, 358; tyranny approved, 
412; persecutes Makemie, 429, 
etc. ; letter in self-defence, 480; 
imprisoned, 484. 

Davis, Rev. Samuel, in Maryland, 
112; marriage by, 114; visit 
from Keith, 200; receives be- 
quest, 205 ; recording marriages, 
278; Layfield's marriage, 283; 
moderator of Presbytery, 497. 

Dashiel, James, 209. 

Drummond, Rev. Thomas, Make- 
mie's pastor, 49 ; imprisoned, 49 ; 
vouches for Makemie, 50. 

Drvden, John, 240. 

Duke of York, cruelty, 32, 67 ; be- 
comes king, 123. 

Eagle Wing and cargo, 69. 

Edgar, Mrs. Mary, or Mrs. Round, 
plantation, 254, 537. 

Elizabeth River, Virginia, Congre- 
gationalists there, 109; Make- 
mie, K)9, etc. ; Mackie, 222, 273. 

Fasset, William, 404. 

Fox, George, in Somerset, 57-59; 
journal. Appendix No. 18 ; dies, 
196. 

Franklin, John, 276, 393, 397, 403» 
408, 492. 

Franklin's creek, 276. 

Freehold, New Jersey, Presbytery, 
417. 

Galbraith, John, will of, 205. 

555 



556 



INDEX. 



Hampton, Rev, John, 394, 403, 
408, 424, 450, 498. 

Hart, Rev. John, 51, 53, 62. 

Hewett, Rev. John, Indian baptism 
and marriage, 60; elected bur- 
gess, 209; on school-board, 266; 
record of marriages, 278. 

Hill, Rev. Matthew, First Presby- 
terian minister in Maryland, 25. 

Huguenots, 37, 127, 139, 167, 182, 

314. 

Indians, Eastern Shore of Virginia, 
43, 44; Eastern Shore of Mary- 
land, 18, 19; hear George Fox, 
59; baptism, 60; "our confed- 
erates," 68; King Daniel, 80; 
in court, 235, 255; laws con- 
cerning, 238, 297; town, 270; 
origin of Nanticokes, 271 ; mon- 
ey, 328 ; first pale-faces, 329 ; di- 
alect, 18, 383, 401, 422, 483; 
Matchacoopah in court, 413; 
King Daniel vs. Hudson, 495. 

Jamaica, Long Island, 350, 432. 

Jenkins, Colonel Francis, and wife, 
79, 84, 167 ; Catholic insult, 181 ; 
judge, 209 ; commissioner, 238 ; 
executors and guardians, 502. 

Jones, James, Justice, 72 ; Quaker, 
Appendix No. 18. 

Keith, George, Quaker, in Somer- 
set, 196; visits Makemie, 198; 
at Snow Hill, 199 ; schism, 217 ; 
joins Episcopalians, 305 ; in 
" holy orders," 318 ; missionary, 
349> 358 > returns to Europe, 
374; rector of Edburton, 491, 

Keith, Rev. Robert, opposes Mac- 
nish, 396, 403 ; his home, 404. 

Ker, Walter, 417, 

King, Robert, born, 176. 

Laggan, country of the, 47 ; Pres- 
bytery, T^T^, 48; about to emi- 
grate, 103. 

Layfield, George, marriage, 224, 
283; prosecuted, 292; dies, 

365. 

Londonderry, siege, young Presby- 
terians close the gates, 161 ; he- 
roic defence, 168. 

Loyola, patron saint of Maryland, 
90; festival, 135. 



Mackie, Rev, Josias, nativity, 222 ; 
at Elizabeth River, 222, 273, 

Macnish, Rev. George, arrives, 
394; applies for license, 396, 
403 ; licensed, 408 ; in Presby- 
tery, 415, 452, 497; on Long 
Island, 536. 

Maddux, Rev, Robert, First Som- 
erset preacher, 27, 

Makemie, Rev. Francis, nativity, 
48; boyhood's haunts, 49 ; con- 
version, 50, 86 ; in Scotland, 50 ; 
probationer, 50 ; trial-sermons, 
52 ; hears of Maryland, 53 ; 
preaches at Burt, 61 ; ordained, 
70 ; arrives in Maryland, 77 ; 
described, 79, 80; Scriptures 
honored, 80 ; family religion, 
85 ; between extremes, 88 ; de- 
plores dissensions, 91 ; on bap- 
tism, 107 ; at Elizabeth River, 
Virginia, 109, etc. ; autographs, 
III, 124; on Prelacy, 160; in 
Accomack, 171, 190; describes 
the country, 178; Catechism, 
186, 356 ; taxed to support Prel- 
acy, 190; marries, 192; fune- 
ral sermon, 193; visited by 
Keith, 196; sickness, 203; re- 
ceives legacy, 205; answers 
Keith, 214, 243; in Philadel- 
phia, 215 ; land-owner, 190, 207, 
222, 225, 301, 348, 362, 390, 410, 
412, 501 ; on High Churchmen, 
231; salary, 235; Pocomoke 
trader, 239 ; on lax doctrine, 
257 ; on heaven, 262 ; on colo- 
nial schools, 266; the Trinity, 
279; in Barbadoes, 287; Bible 
in business, 290 ; practical preach- 
ing, 293 ; Quakers questioned, 
304 ; on uniformity, 307 ; arrest- 
ed in Virginia, 308; preaching- 
places recorded, 309 ; pastoral 
to Barbadoes, 312; doctrine of 
election, 313; his own lawyer, 
314; on liturgies, 324; will of 
Custis, 332; mill built, 335, 361 ; 
troubles with Mrs, Hill, 336, 
347, 400, 404 ; saints' perseve- 
rance, 337 ; bishops, 338 ; his 
children, 356, 370, 501, 504, 



INDEX, 



557 



505 ; church discipline, 361, 386; 
intends for Europe,. 362; house 
and furniture, 371 ; store, 375 ; 
library, 375, 500; slaves, 376; 
in Europe, 377 ; scenes there, 
380,391; his Perswasive, 388; 
address to Governor Nott, 389 ; se- 
cures helpers, 393 ; " in the gap," 
402; first Presbytery, 414; at 
Freehold, 417 ; at Woodbridge, 
422 ; at New^ark, 423 ; at Corn- 
bury's table, 424 ; sermon, 426 ; 
arrested, imprisoned, indicted, 
429-448 ; at Presbytery, 452 ; 
letter to Coleman, 455 ; at home, 
456; returns, and tried in New 
York, 458-472 ; his speech, 463 ; 
in Boston, 474 ; letter to Corn- 
bury, 477 ; his Narrative, 479 ; 
his will, 499; death and grave, 
510. 
Maryland charter, 22; toleration, 
13, 22; law of 1649, 23; rebel- 
lion, 38 ; described by Governor 
Culpeper, 40; Quakers, 56; St. 
Mary's, 131 ; Church Establish- 
ment, 210, 241, 251, 263, 265, 
291, 297, 309, 310, 321, 340, 
343 ; Governor Copley, 208, 210, 
230, 236 ; Governor Nicholson, 
240, 263, 296, 297, 320, 388 ; 
disease and scarcity, 242, 250, 
261; Annapolis, 243,390; first 
post-route, 252 ; wild game, 275 ; 
Governor Blakiston, 296; capi- 
tol burnt, 310; population, 166, 
339; Governor Loyd, 341 ; Act 
of Toleration, 344 ; capitol again 
burnt, 368; slavery, 378; Gov- 
ernor Seymour, 378 ; " Maryland 
parsons," 359, 379, 386, 395, 
399; new State-house, 406; 
only brick church, 407. 
Mather, Cotton, 243, 412, 433, 

475- 
Mather, Increase, iii, 124, 243, 

475- 
Monokin church, 86, 125, 394, 

408, 493. 497- 
Nicholson, Sir Francis, governor 
of Maryland, 240, 263 ; trans- 
ferred to Virginia, 296 ; charac- 



ter, 297 ; love-affair, 320 ; dis- 
placed, 388. 
Oyster, first mention in American 
history, 96, 370. 

Penn, William, grant of province, 
67 ; comes to America, 67 ; con- 
ference with Lord Baltimore, 
69 ; liberty of worship, 339 ; 
Episcopacy, 340; disgusted, 358. 

Philadelphia laid out, 67 ; Make- 
mie first Presbyterian minister 
there, 215 ; Quaker schism, 216; 
first Episcopal minister, 252; 
first Congregational minister, 
295 ; first Presbyterian pastor, 
295 ; first Presbyterian church, 
377.396; first Presbytery, 415; 
second Presbytery, 412; third 
Presbyteiy, 497. 

Pitts's Creek church, 94, 537. 

Pocomoke River, first mention, 17 ; 
battle, 19; described, 19, 22, 
268. 

Quakers in Accomack, 45, 46 ; set- 
tling Somerset, 55; wrongs in 
Maryland, 56 ; Fox in Somerset, 
57; extremes, 88; hat in Som- 
erset court, 181 ; schism in Phila- 
delphia, 216; Thomas Story, 
216, 259; officials, 239; loyal 
to James, 241, 249; Thomas 
Chalkley, 294 ; Samuel Bownas, 
349; lonely graveyard, 509. 

Rehoboth plantation, 73 ; congre- 
gation, 78; religious centre, 92, 
145 ; town, 84; importance, 105 ; 
mill, 151, 240; prison, 336; first 
record of church, 194; new 
church, 386; recorded^ 492; 
ground given by Makemie, 
501. 

Riddel, Rev. Alexander, 422. 

Rule, Rev. Robert, superintends 
Makemie's studies, 51 ; to con- 
fer about Stevens's application, 

53- 

Scarborough, Colonel Edmund, 
settling Somerset, 55.; raid upon 
Somerset, 57; against the Assa- 
teagues, 332. 

Seymour, Governor, wants no com- 
missary, 378 ; order to Somerset 



558 



INDEX. 



court, 406 ; disgusted with clergy , 

490. 

Snow Hill church, 86, 124 ; town, 
135, 201, 268, 390; parish, 212; 
bridge, 239; pastoral call, 450; 
presbyterial letter, 497 ; installa- 
tion, 498. 

Somerset county settled, 55 ; Scar- 
borough's irruption, 57 ; organ- 
ized, 71 ; towns, 84, 104, 134, 
390, 495; defence, 181 ; elec- 
tion, 209 ; parishes, 212 ; thanks- 
giving, 223 ; cattle, 226 ; court- 
house, 238, 253, 256 ; manufac- 
tures, 267 ; churches, 279 ; fruit, 
352; ague, 354; parochial libra- 
ries, 360. 

Stevens, Colonel William, nativity, 
20 ; writes to Laggan Presbytery, 
33 ; vindicates Indians, 69; chil- 
dren, 79; tolerant, 92, 145; 
deputy - lieutenant, 105; will, 
159; dies, 153; tomb, 163; 
widow marries, 224; she dies, 
267; niece marries, 283. 

Taylor, Rev. Nathaniel, in Mary- 
land, 182. 

Teackle, Rev. WiUiam, 45, 46, 
165, 202, 251. 

Trail, Rev. William, to confer 
about Stevens's letter, 53 ; before 
the Council, 63; nativity, 64; in 
prison, 66 ; burnt in effigy, 66 ; 
in Somerset, 112; marriage by. 



115; his father, 120; his home, 
136; mystery, 143; petition, 
165; returns to Scotland, 179; 
member of Assembly, 186; wife 
rejoins him, 193; he marries 
again, 342 ; at Borthwick, 392. 
Virginia, college founded, 226, 
229 ; education, 227 ; Prelacy, 
253; character of clergy, 172, 
253, 264; college commence- 
ment, 319; population, 339; first 
peaches, 342 ; college burnt, 
368; slavery, 377; Dissenters, 
109,387; Governor Effingham, 
171; Governor Nicholson, 296, 
297, 320, 388; Governor Nott, 

387, 389. 
Wale, Edward, 96, 184. 
Walker, governor of Derry, stolen 

honors, 183; dies, 184. 
Whalley, Major-General, 97, 184. 
White, Ambrose, 100. 
White, Father, Jesuit, 90. 
Whittington, Captain William, 209, 

238. 
Wicomico church, 86, 125, 479. 
Wilson, Ephraim, sheriff, 230. 
Wilson, Rev. Thomas, 112, 125, 

205, 279. 
Witchcraft, 72, 73, 158, 208. 
Woodbridge, New Jersey, Make- 

mie there, 422. 
Woodbridge, Rev. Benjamin, in 

Philadelphia, 295. 



THE END. 



„ -'c- 



',. .^^ 



.A<^ 



V </■•, 






-x^>- >. 






/ :^ 



^^7?^'- 



-r. 



y^^y^^' * 



■'>:■'-"' .^..., 












> <p. 



t:^/. 






'"oo^ 



,s -r , 



,-o- 









■^^^ >^ 






%^^ 






'""'^^ ' 



.-^:^.^ ,^^ 



> ^4^. 



" xV 
























\' V 





















^*' -^^^ '. 



'>..<■/ ,^^ %>,:'^^J'^■V 



■°A * 



'_ 


'^^. 






.x^^' 


-^r.. 




■V* 


^, *%sy^-^' N " . 




^^ 


C'-:/, 






■^^.. .*^ ~~ 







,*'> 



Neutralizing Agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: 




JUL «* 



MEIEIB 



PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGIES. LP. 
HIT' j-nson Park Drive 
Cranosu-y ToA-nship, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



■^', .-^^ 






=5 •^>. 



%/>^^\X.v 



■.^' v" 



^% 



^%%^ 



v>^' . 



-^^ 

«.-'^^. 



-^y. V^' 



,-n'''". 


^: 


■'^.! 




r. 


./-. 

•^c^. 













r. 









..^^ 



^y^ V 



> Ci 



